This week, Meta is in court in another lawsuit over social media addiction and other alleged harms caused by its apps. This case is the latest test for the platform, which faces thousands of lawsuits over its handling of user safety and the impact of its applications on the mental health of adolescents.
The trial begins Tuesday in federal court in Oakland, Calif., after Meta lost a final attempt to have the case dismissed last week. This could see testimony from top Meta officials, including Mark Zuckerberg, and could result in record penalties for the company.
The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed against Meta by dozens of states, which accused Meta of intentionally creating addictive features and violating consumer protection laws. The action follows a multistate investigation into the company’s safety practices that officials say revealed serious harm toward children and teens.
During the trial, federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will hear complaints from California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey that Meta violated state consumer protection laws by intentionally misleading the public about the security of its apps. These four states and 25 others are also suing Meta for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). The states allege Meta broke the law because it knew Instagram and Facebook had users under the age of 13 and were collecting data about them without permission.
Although Meta has faced similar allegations in other lawsuits this year, the impact of this trial could be particularly significant. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey have not publicly revealed how much they plan to seek. But Meta said in a court filing before the trial that the states were seeking sanctions of up to $1.4 trillion, an amount he called “extraordinary.” Judge Rogers has already indicated that this figure was “unreasonable”, according to comments reported by Law360. But she also disputed Meta’s proposed estimate of $4 million.
For Meta, the stakes are particularly high because the company currently faces thousands of other lawsuits accusing it of harming users. Juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico have already ruled against Meta in high-profile trials dealing with similar issues. (Meta said it would appeal either case.) Another loss could not only be a financial blow, but it could ease the path forward for other lawsuits. And while Meta doesn’t really need the money, his legal fees are adding up. The company said it spent $2.4 billion on legal fees in the second quarter of 2026 alone.
For his part, Meta believes that the states’ assertions are not proven and that the proposed sanctions are poorly calculated. “State attorneys may call this a landmark case, but their limited claims are without merit and their financial demands are grossly disproportionate,” a company spokesperson said in a statement provided to Woozad.
“The AGs offer no evidence that anyone in their state was misled, claim that innocuous features like having an additional Instagram account harmed their residents, and attempt to penalize Meta for industry-wide challenges like age verification,” the spokesperson continued. “Rather than stick to the facts or the law, states have instead decided to pursue outlandish compensation claims. We remain committed to creating strong protections for teens and look forward to making our case in court.”
The jury for this case has already been selected and closing arguments are scheduled to begin on Tuesday, August 18. The trial is expected to last approximately six weeks. Unlike a standard jury trial, the eight-member jury will play an “advisory” role, as Law360 explain. The judge will have full power over the final verdict and sanctions.
Along the way, the trial could also see testimony from some of Meta’s most visible executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri. Both men are likely to testify, according to Reuters. Both also participated in other trials this year. Testifying at the Los Angeles trial in February, Zuckerberg said Instagram was supposed to be “useful,” not addictive.
Audio of the trial will be streamed live on the court’s YouTube channel.
