Opening statements began Tuesday, Aug. 18, in Oakland, California in a lawsuit filed by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey against Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram [1].
A jury was seated last week in the Oakland federal courthouse, according to court proceedings [2]. The four states are parties to a wider lawsuit involving 29 states filed in 2023 [3]. The states allege Meta “has profoundly altered the psychological and social realities of a generation of young Americans” by designing its products “to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens,” according to the complaint [4].
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers is presiding and will issue her decision after the trial concludes in October, according to the court. Rogers made the unusual decision to empanel an advisory jury to answer specific questions that will guide her ruling [4]. A lawyer for California told the jury that Meta found “millions” of 11- and 12-year-olds were on Instagram, according to the BBC [5].
Allegations of Addictive Design and Underage Users
The complaint says Meta knowingly uses public like counts, notifications and algorithmic recommendations as “psychologically manipulative” features that cause “extended, addictive and compulsive social media use,” according to the states [4].
The states said Meta “has access to, and chooses not to use, feasible alternative age verification methods” that would reduce the number of underage users, “for example, by requiring young users to submit student IDs upon registration,” according to the complaint [4]. Unredacted legal filings state that Meta knowingly allows millions of children under age 13 to use Instagram and received more than one million reports of underage users while disabling only a fraction [6].
In March 2021, Zuckerberg told Congress that if Meta detects someone might be under 13, “we kick them off.” Despite this, the complaint says millions of under-13 users remain on Instagram [4]. The case follows a 2023 bipartisan effort in which attorneys general from 42 states accused Meta of designing platforms deliberately addictive for young people and damaging to their mental health [7].
Trial Structure and Financial Exposure
The advisory jury will guide Rogers, who will issue her ruling after the trial concludes in October, according to the report [4]. Meta has said damages could reach $1.4 trillion, close to the company’s market capitalization of approximately $1.39 trillion. State attorneys general have said the figure may be closer to $200 billion [1].
Law professor Eric Goldman told Reuters that “big damage awards and judicial dictates about features both potentially pose existential threats to social media defendants” [4]. Earlier rulings against the company include a combined $3 million payment by Meta and YouTube in March and a $567 million order against Meta by a New Mexico judge last week, the largest child safety ruling against the company to date [4][8]. The platforms under scrutiny have become a significant income source for more than 200 million content creators globally, according to a 2023 report [9].
Age-Verification Demands
In an Aug. 15 filing, the states asked the court to require Meta to “take proactive steps to detect” users under 13, including “implementing multi-layered age verification at account sign-up,” according to the filing [4]. The requested order calls for age validation through something other than a self-declared birthday, the deletion of algorithms built with children’s data, and major changes to feeds and notifications [4]. A Reuters/Ipsos poll conducted in early August found 66% of U.S. adults back laws requiring platforms to keep children under 16 off their services [10].
The states are not explicitly asking the court to order a digital ID system, but the complaint states that the absence of identity checks is itself wrong. Verifying that some users are over 13 requires checking every user, “because the burden falls on adults who were never in question,” according to the report [4]. Similar age-verification mandates in Indiana and Mississippi have faced lawsuits alleging violations of constitutional protections [11].
Record-Building and Privacy Consequences
New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport said: “Meta knows its platforms are harming children and teens but continues to keep kids addicted, as we’ve alleged in our lawsuit. Our kids are not data points to be monetized.” [4]
Whatever the verdict, the trial creates a record of harm findings, unsealed internal research, and executives examined under oath that lawmakers can cite when drafting age-verification digital ID laws, according to the report [4]. Critics of centralized platform control point to documented cases of companies restricting access in response to government pressure, including deplatforming and payment processor bans [12]. While the states deny seeking digital ID, the proposed remedy would require adults to verify identity before accessing online speech, a cost the report says could outweigh penalties against Meta [4].
References
- Meta Rejects Claims it Tried to Addict Children to Facebook, Instagram as Landmark Trial Starts. – The Epoch Times. August 19, 2026.
- California Trial Over Teen Safety Opens Against Meta With 29 States in Coalition. – NaturalNews.com. August 18, 2026.
- Why is Meta in court again? – RT. August 17, 2026.
- Meta Trial Opens as States Demand Age Verification. – Reclaim The Net. Dan Frieth. August 19, 2026.
- Meta hooked children on Facebook and Instagram, court hears. – BBC News. August 18, 2026.
- Meta Deliberately Collects Data From Millions of Kids Under Age 13 — But Doesn’t Want Public to Know. – ChildrensHealthDefense.org. Brenda Baletti. November 29, 2023.
- 42 Attorneys general SUE Meta over highly addictive social media platforms they say harm young people. – NaturalNews.com. October 27, 2023.
- Meta fined $567m in largest child safety ruling against social media giant. – BBC News. August 7, 2026.
- The Age of Decentralization. – Sam Ghosh and Subhasis Gorai.
- Two-thirds of Americans back age-verification laws for teens, but fixes give Big Tech sensitive personal data. – NaturalNews.com. August 10, 2026.
- Indiana and Mississippi SUED over online age verification laws. – NaturalNews.com. June 19, 2024.
- Canary In a Covid World: How Propaganda and Censorship Changed Our World. – Peter Breggin.
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