Four states take Meta to federal trial over alleged social media harms to children, seeking up to $1.4 trillion
A federal trial began Tuesday in Oakland, California, with four state attorneys general — from California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey — suing Meta Platforms over allegations that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children, misled the public about the risks, and collected data on children under 13 without parental consent. The states are seeking financial penalties that could reach $1.4 trillion, as well as changes to how Meta operates its platforms. Meta disputes the allegations and said the financial demands are "vastly disproportionate."
The trial, held before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California, is considered among the most consequential legal actions yet taken against a social media company over child safety. The four states are serving as bellwether plaintiffs for a broader multidistrict litigation that consolidates thousands of similar lawsuits; an additional 25 states are expected to have trials at a later date.
At the center of the states' case is the argument that Meta deliberately designed features — including the "like" button, infinite scroll, and recommendation algorithms — to capture young users' attention and prolong their time on the platforms. The lawsuit also alleges Meta knew children under 13 were using Instagram and Facebook, collected their personal data without parental consent in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and made public statements about user well-being that contradicted its internal knowledge of harms.
The $1.4 trillion penalty figure, which Meta itself disclosed in a legal filing, is roughly equivalent to the company's entire market capitalization. Legal experts across sources agreed that an award approaching that amount is highly unlikely in practice. Cornell Law professor James Grimmelmann said such a penalty "would put Meta into bankruptcy, wipe out its owners, and effectively result in the states owning Meta." He and other experts noted that courts in comparable high-damages cases have historically imposed far smaller penalties — citing, for example, the Anthropic AI training case, where a per-book damages claim was ultimately reduced by 98 percent.