Overview
- Jury selection in the multistate case concluded on Wednesday, Aug. 12, in Oakland and opening arguments are scheduled to begin Tuesday, Aug. 18, with the trial expected to run about seven weeks before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers.
- The 29-state coalition alleges Meta built features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, constant notifications and recommendation systems to prolong minors’ use and that those designs harmed children and misled the public.
- Plaintiffs also say Meta collected data from users under 13 in possible violation of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, which bars firms from gathering personal information from kids without verifiable parental consent.
- Meta denies wrongdoing, argues 'social media addiction' is not a recognized psychiatric diagnosis, and warns the states’ claims could imply maximum exposure of roughly $1.4 trillion while calling that figure a theoretical ceiling.
- The case follows a New Mexico ruling that ordered Meta to pay $567 million and impose youth limits, a decision now on appeal, and the Oakland outcome could set binding precedents affecting platform design, privacy rules and related suits against other tech firms.