Mark Zuckerberg-led Meta Platforms is to face its biggest legal test in the United States, with a coalition of state attorney generals assembling in a California federal court, where a trial will be focusing on whether the tech giant engineered Facebook and Instagram to be addictive to children.
An adverse verdict will end up exposing the company to massive damages and force it to make sweeping changes to its platforms.
The trial, which will last seven weeks, will test Colorado, Kentucky, California, and New Jersey’s allegations that Meta designed its platforms to keep young users hooked and misled consumers about their safety. It will also address claims by 29 states that the company illegally collected and used children’s data in violation of federal law.
While jury selection is underway, opening statements are slated to begin August 18. Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify, as is Instagram head Adam Mosseri.
As per Meta’s estimates, damages could be as high as USD 1.4 trillion, near the company’s market cap of USD 1.5 trillion. The army of AGs, however, has not publicly disclosed how much they may seek.
The attorneys general of Colorado, Kentucky, California, and New Jersey are also asking the judge to issue an order forcing the company to implement age restrictions, eliminate infinite scroll, and make other changes to its platforms.
A Meta spokesperson, while interacting with Reuters, said the social media giant strongly disagreed with the allegations and was confident evidence would show its longstanding commitment to supporting young people.
“We’ve listened to parents, worked with experts and law enforcement, and conducted in-depth research to understand the issues that matter most,” the spokesperson remarked.
The states’ lawsuit, filed in 2023, follows up on the multistate investigation into Instagram and Facebook’s impact on young users. The investigation was announced following disclosures by Meta whistleblower Frances Haugen, who testified before a US Senate committee in 2021. During that, he claimed that the social media giant knew its products could harm young users and how to make them safer but chose not to make those changes in favor of pursuing higher profits.
“Meta knows its platforms are harming children and teens but continues to keep kids addicted, as we’ve alleged in our lawsuit. Our kids are not data points to be monetized,” New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said ahead of the trial.
Along with Meta, several other social media companies are facing growing pressure from lawmakers and in the courts. States, municipalities, school districts, and individuals have filed a plethora of litigations over allegations that their products harm young users.
While Meta has repeatedly flagged the flood of litigation hurting its business and financial prospects, trials in the two cases that have already gone to juries resulted in verdicts against the tech giant.
In the first week of August, a New Mexico judge ordered the company to pay USD 567 million and make changes to its platforms after finding Meta responsible for fueling a children’s mental health crisis in the state. The company also settled a lawsuit brought by a Kentucky school district.
Legal experts see the California trial as a pivotal moment for Meta, with recent courtroom losses increasing the pressure on the tech giant.
“Big damage awards and judicial dictates about features both potentially pose existential threats to social media defendants,” said Eric Goldman, a professor and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law.
Meta has already lost the last-ditch effort to delay the trial and halt thousands of other lawsuits it is facing, with a US court dismissing the social media conglomerate’s appeal of rulings that allowed the cases to move forward.
District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who also presided over Elon Musk’s lawsuit against OpenAI and its CEO Sam Altman, will oversee the trial and issue her decision after it concludes in October 2026.
In addition to monetary damages, the states are asking Rogers to order the platforms to make nationwide changes like implementing user age restrictions, delete all algorithms and AI models made with children’s data, and eliminate features like infinite scroll and notifications.
The litigants also want Rogers to direct Meta to alter the algorithm it uses to promote content to prioritize well-being instead of engagement, apart from setting strict time limits for young users.