Meta faces high-stakes trial as wave of youth harm lawsuits grows

Meta is set to defend itself in a federal trial beginning Tuesday in Oakland, California, where four states accuse the company of deliberately engineering addictive features that harm children's mental health. The case is one of many legal challenges confronting major social media platforms over their impact on young users.

California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are the plaintiffs in this trial, part of a larger multistate lawsuit filed three years ago. Twenty-five other states are expected to have their own trials later. The states are seeking financial penalties that could reach billions of dollars, along with court-ordered changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate.

Meta has said it will present evidence of its commitment to supporting young people, including work with experts and law enforcement. The company disputes the allegations.

This trial follows two significant losses for Meta this year. In March, a jury in New Mexico found the company liable for thousands of violations related to child sexual exploitation and mental health harms, ordering a $375 million penalty. In August, a judge added $567 million in damages and imposed new safety measures, including a 90-hour monthly time limit for users under 18 and restrictions on AI chatbots. Meta has said it will appeal.

Tennessee opted out of the multistate case and filed its own lawsuit in state court. Opening statements began in late July, with the trial expected to run into early September. The state's attorney general has accused Meta of targeting children with a harmful product while concealing its risks.

Earlier this year, a bellwether jury trial found Meta and YouTube liable for social media addiction, awarding $6 million to a plaintiff who testified that platform design worsened her mental health struggles. Both companies have appealed. TikTok and Snapchat settled before that trial began.

Separately, hundreds of U.S. school districts have sued social media companies over costs tied to student mental health issues. A bellwether case from a Kentucky school district settled this summer, with Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube all reaching agreements before trial. Attorneys for the plaintiffs said they remain focused on pursuing justice for the remaining 1,200 districts.

Thousands of individual lawsuits also allege that platform design features led to addiction and adverse mental health outcomes. Some cases involve families of children who died by suicide or from accidental overdoses after drug purchases facilitated through social platforms.