Twenty-nine US states have brought social media giant Meta to trial in Oakland, California, accusing the company of knowingly designing its platforms to addict teenagers and concealing mental health risks to maximize profits.
The legal action against the parent company of Instagram and Facebook is expected to last six to eight weeks and is considered the most significant court test to date in the United States regarding the impact of social media on young users.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are expected to testify during the proceedings before US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
Meta Platforms Incorporated is an American technology conglomerate based in California that owns and operates major digital networking services used by billions of people worldwide, including Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
State prosecutors outline allegations
The 233-page lawsuit was originally filed in October 2023 as a joint initiative by 29 state attorneys general, with the legal team led by California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey.
During opening arguments, California Deputy Attorney General Megan O'Neill told the court that Meta failed to assume its responsibility for protecting children. She stated that the business model of the company was to addict users, retain them for as long as possible, collect their data, and hide the truth from the public.
O'Neill said the strategy worked particularly well with children, adding that Meta needed young users while simultaneously needing to reassure parents and safety advocates. She cited internal company documents containing phrases such as the younger the better and stating that teenagers were addicted to Instagram despite how the platform made them feel.
According to prosecutors, an internal message sent to Mosseri named time spent on the platform by teenagers as a key performance target. O'Neill noted that internal messages showed employees comparing Instagram to a drug and describing themselves as dealers, asserting that company executives repeatedly chose profits over user safety.
Manipulative features and mental health impact
State prosecutors accused Meta of developing and refining a range of psychologically manipulative product features designed to maximize screen time among young users.
The lawsuit focuses on specific mechanisms including infinite scrolling, recommendation algorithms, persistent push notifications, like buttons, and digital filters that alter user appearance.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta stated that children and teenagers are uniquely vulnerable to these digital mechanisms. He cited evidence showing Meta was aware that Instagram is harmful to a significant proportion of teenagers, particularly teenage girls, and knew of reported incidents involving self-harm, eating disorders, and compulsive engagement with likes.
Family testimonies and courtroom protests
Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser referenced the case of a mother attending the trial whose teenage daughter died by suicide following prolonged exposure to content on social media. Weiser told the court that the minor spent long hours online viewing harmful video content and allegedly received online guidance discouraging her from discussing her mental health with her parents.
Protesters gathered outside the Oakland courthouse during the trial opening. Among the demonstrators was Mary Rodee, whose 15-year-old son, Riley Basford, died by suicide in 2021 after becoming the victim of an online predator on Facebook.
Meta defence and corporate response
Meta has denied allegations that it intentionally designed its platforms to addict children. Defense attorney Paul Schmidt argued in court that the internal emails and documents presented by state prosecutors had been taken out of their broader context.
Schmidt acknowledged that some social media users experience difficulties, but stated that scientific research has not established a direct causal link between social media use among teenagers and reduced psychological well-being. He added that Meta has conducted internal studies to support young users and has disabled more than one million accounts belonging to children under the age of 13.
The defence attorney accused the state attorneys general of pursuing excessive financial penalties rather than focusing on legal principles or empirical facts, describing the financial claims as unsubstantiated and disproportionate.
Financial stakes and potential remedies
The financial consequences of the trial are substantial. State attorneys general estimate that statutory penalties could reach approximately 200 billion dollars, while Meta estimated that alternative calculation methods could push potential financial exposure up to 1.4 trillion dollars.
Beyond monetary damages, the states are seeking structural changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for underage users. The requested remedies include removing infinite scroll and likes for minors, establishing mandatory usage time limits, and enforcing stricter age verification to prevent children under 13 from accessing the services.
The trial jury will deliver an advisory verdict, but the final ruling on liability and penalties will be decided by Judge Gonzalez Rogers. The first witness called by the states is former Meta safety engineer and whistleblower Arturo Bejar, who has maintained for years that company management knew its child protection measures were ineffective.
Broader litigation and tobacco industry comparison
The Oakland trial forms part of a broader wave of legal action against major technology firms. School districts, state governments, families, and individual plaintiffs have filed thousands of lawsuits across the United States against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube.
Two weeks prior to the trial opening, a judge ordered Meta to pay 567 million dollars to the state of New Mexico in a similar lawsuit, bringing the company total liabilities in that state to 942 million dollars. A parallel trial is underway in Tennessee, while a Los Angeles court ordered Meta and Google in March to pay 6 million dollars to a 20-year-old woman who became addicted to Instagram and YouTube as a child.
State officials explicitly compared their litigation strategy to the landmark lawsuits against American tobacco companies in the 1990s, which targeted the addictive nature of cigarettes and internal corporate awareness of health risks. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman stated that prosecutors are applying the same framework used in the 1998 tobacco master settlement and opioid litigation, stating that states would hold Meta accountable for concealing known risks to young users.
