Meta goes on trial over claims it designed Facebook and Instagram to addict children

What is widely described as one of the largest legal challenges yet to a social media company is about to be argued in open court. After years of pre-trial fighting, a coalition of US state attorneys general has brought Meta before a federal court over how Instagram and Facebook treat their youngest users. The claims remain unproven, and Meta rejects them, but the trial will put the company's own design decisions before a judge and jury.

What is Meta on trial for?

The case is being heard in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, in Oakland, before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. According to the states, Meta deliberately built its platforms to keep young people engaged, misled parents and the public about how safe they were for children, and unlawfully collected data from users under 13 in breach of federal law.

It is one of the first cases from a much larger legal fight to reach a courtroom. Judge Gonzalez Rogers also oversees the sprawling multidistrict litigation that gathers thousands of claims against Meta and other platforms, including YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok. This state case was cleared to go ahead in June, when the judge denied Meta's bid to throw the claims out and found there were material factual disputes over whether the apps were designed to be addictive and whether Meta falsely denied it. In the same ruling, the judge also granted the states a narrower win: partial summary judgment on Meta's failure to obtain parental consent for users under 13, as federal law requires.

The key facts, from court filings and trial coverage:

• Who is suing: a coalition of 29 states. The trial's first phase is led by four of them, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.
• Where: US District Court, Northern District of California, in Oakland.
• Judge: Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who also handles the broader social media multidistrict litigation.
• The core allegations: that Meta designed Instagram and Facebook to maximise engagement from minors, misrepresented the risks to young users, and illegally collected children's data.
• Timeline: opening statements are set for 18 August 2026, with jury selection already under way. The trial is expected to run about seven weeks, concluding around October, after which the judge will rule.
• Witnesses: Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are expected to testify.

One unusual feature: rather than hand the outcome straight to a jury, Judge Gonzalez Rogers has empanelled an advisory jury to answer specific questions, which she will then use to guide her own ruling. She keeps final authority over the decision.

What do the states want Meta to change?

The remedies the states are asking for go well beyond money. According to trial reporting, the four leading states are seeking court orders that would require Meta to:

• Introduce stronger age restrictions on who can use the platforms.
• End "infinite scroll," the bottomless feed that keeps loading more content on its own.
• Change the recommendation algorithms aimed at young users, so they favour well-being over raw engagement.
• Delete algorithms and AI models that were built using children's data.
• Impose stricter time limits for younger users, and curb the notifications that pull them back in.

Those are design-level changes. If a court ordered them, they would reach into the core mechanics that make the apps sticky, not just add a settings toggle. That is what separates this case from a routine privacy fine, and it connects to a wider push, from the arrival of internet age-verification laws to fights over how companies quietly track users for advertising, to regulate how consumer software is built rather than only how it handles data after the fact.

How much money is at stake?

Here the numbers need care. Meta itself has said potential damages could run as high as $1.4 trillion, a figure close to its roughly $1.5 trillion market value. But that number comes from Meta, not the plaintiffs: the state attorneys general have not publicly disclosed how much they intend to seek, and their penalty filings are sealed. In other words, the eye-catching "$1.4 trillion" is the company's own framing of a worst-case exposure, which Meta argues has "no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement," not a demand on the table. Read it as a measure of how high the stakes could in theory run, not a sum the court has been asked to award.

Why does this trial matter?

Because it is widely described as the biggest and most consequential US test to date of whether a social media platform can be held legally responsible for whether and how it affects children. For years, the argument over social media and young people played out in reports, hearings and leaked internal documents. This trial moves it into a courtroom, where the states will try to convince the court, under oath and on the evidence, that particular product decisions were both deliberate and harmful.

A ruling against Meta, or a settlement with binding design changes, could set a template that reaches well beyond one company. A win for Meta would slow that momentum. None of it is decided yet: the trial is the start of the argument, not the end of it.

What does Meta say?

Meta rejects the allegations. The company has said it "strongly" disagrees with the states' claims and points to years of work on teen safety, including parental supervision tools, age-appropriate settings, and collaboration with outside experts and law enforcement. Its broader defence is that the harms are not established, that its design choices are not proof of an intent to addict, and that responsibility for children's online lives is shared with parents, schools and other platforms. The advisory jury, and ultimately the judge, will decide whether that holds.

Frequently asked questions

Which states are suing Meta?

A coalition of 29 states has brought claims. The first phase of the trial is led by four of them, California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, over allegations of addictive design and deception, alongside claims that Meta unlawfully collected the data of children under 13.

When does the trial start and how long will it last?

Opening statements are scheduled for 18 August 2026 in federal court in Oakland, California, with jury selection already under way. The trial is expected to last around seven weeks, concluding around October, after which Judge Gonzalez Rogers will issue her ruling.

Is Mark Zuckerberg going to testify?

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is expected to testify, as is Instagram head Adam Mosseri, according to trial coverage.

Is Meta facing $1.4 trillion in damages?

Not as a demand. Meta itself has cited $1.4 trillion as a potential worst-case exposure, close to its market value, but the attorneys general have not said how much they will seek. The figure is Meta's own framing, not an amount the court has been asked to award.

What are the states asking Meta to change?

Beyond damages, the leading states want court-ordered design changes: tougher age checks, an end to infinite scroll, changes to the algorithms aimed at minors, deletion of models trained on children's data, and stricter time and notification limits for young users.