Overview
- Jury selection began in Oakland on Wednesday and opening statements are scheduled for the week of August 18 in a consolidated federal trial brought by state attorneys general and other plaintiffs.
- A Ninth Circuit ruling this week cleared more than 3,000 related lawsuits to proceed by saying Section 230 can be used as a defense at trial rather than as a shield that blocks suits.
- Plaintiffs allege Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to encourage addictive use by young people and are seeking structural remedies for app design plus financial penalties reported as high as $1.4 trillion, a figure the company disputes.
- Recent state-court outcomes have already pressured Meta: a New Mexico judge ordered $567 million into a teen mental health fund and other rulings and verdicts have produced damages and settlements approaching roughly $1 billion combined.
- The trial is expected to feature high-profile testimony, including from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and legal experts say the case could reshape how courts and regulators treat platform design and corporate disclosures even if any awards are appealed or reduced.