States Put Meta on Trial in Landmark Fight Over Child Safety on Social Media

A Trillion-Dollar Reckoning Begins

Opening arguments began Tuesday in the trial that California Attorney General Rob Bonta is co-leading against Meta, following a litany of allegations that the company fostered addictive behavior in teens and children. The stakes could not be higher. Four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey — are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in penalties and product changes under consumer protection laws that they allege were broken by Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

The $1.4 trillion figure, which Meta disclosed in a legal filing, is almost as high as the Menlo Park, California, company's entire market capitalization — that is, the value of all its outstanding shares on the stock market. To put that in plain terms: the states are theoretically seeking an amount that could erase Meta's entire existence. "The state attorneys general are going for the gusto," said Eric Goldman, a professor and co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law. "They are trying to set the definitive precedent in this case and they have asked for extraordinary damages."

What Meta Is Accused Of

The lawsuit accuses the social media giant of violating the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by gathering data from children without parental consent and contributing to the youth mental health crisis by knowingly and deliberately designing features that get children addicted to its platforms. The accusations go beyond addiction. States say Meta also violated COPPA by collecting data about children, and New Jersey Attorney General Jennifer Davenport told NPR, "We allege in our complaint, and what we're prepared to prove at trial, is that they're deceiving consumers about Facebook and Instagram's dangers."

The attorneys representing the states want Meta to be forced to remove "certain addictive design features," including infinite scroll, autoplay, ephemeral content, beauty filters, and engagement-optimized algorithms. Unlike in a standard jury trial, the eight-member jury will serve in an "advisory" role — the judge will have full power over the final verdict and penalties. The trial could also see testimony from some of Meta's most visible executives, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram chief Adam Mosseri, both of whom are likely to testify, according to Reuters.

A Company Already on the Ropes

Meta has already lost two cases in state courts this year over similar claims. In March, a Los Angeles jury found that Meta and Google were to blame for the depression and anxiety of a young woman who compulsively used social media as a small child and awarded her $6 million in damages. Separately, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million and implement new safety measures after a jury found that the company failed to protect young users from child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

The Associated Press reports that Meta reported a rare profit decline last month, in part due to $2.4 billion in legal expenses. The company is pushing back hard, calling the $1.4 trillion demand "untethered to any claimed violation." Meta has denied the accusations, arguing that the attorneys general lack evidence that it misled the public about its platforms' alleged addictiveness because social media addiction is not a psychiatric condition.

What Comes Next

If Meta loses the trial, the court would have wide discretion over the size of any financial penalty, and legal experts say anything close to $1.4 trillion would be unlikely. "It's not plausible in the sense that Meta doesn't have that much money and could not get it," said James Grimmelmann, a law professor at Cornell Law School and Cornell Tech. "An award that large would put Meta into bankruptcy, wipe out its owners, and effectively result in the states owning Meta."

The trial is expected to last about six weeks. Another 25 states have sued Meta in federal court and are expected to have their own trials. Whatever the final penalty, this case is shaping up as a defining moment — not just for Meta, but for the entire social media industry. If courts force changes to infinite scroll, algorithmic feeds, and like counts, the platforms billions of people use every day could look very different on the other side of this fight.