{"id":436217,"date":"2026-08-18T12:04:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:04:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436217\/"},"modified":"2026-08-18T12:04:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T12:04:16","slug":"meta-goes-on-trial-in-oakland-over-alleged-harms-to-children-with-up-to-1-4-trillion-at-stake-the-mercury-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/436217\/","title":{"rendered":"Meta goes on trial in Oakland over alleged harms to children, with up to $1.4 trillion at stake \u2013 The Mercury News"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meta<\/a> goes on trial this week in Oakland over allegations it built Facebook and Instagram to addict children, concealed the resulting harm and illegally collected young users\u2019 data, a case that Meta says could expose it to as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties or force fundamental changes to two of the world\u2019s largest social media platforms<\/a>.<\/p>\n

RELATED: Jury finds Instagram and YouTube liable in a landmark social media addiction trial<\/a><\/p>\n

The potentially greater peril is not the financial penalty, experts said, but a court order stripping away features that drive young people to spend more time on the platforms, including infinite scrolling, visible \u201clikes,\u201d beauty filters and engagement-boosting algorithms.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe bigger threat to Meta is actually what we call an injunction, where a judge says, \u2018You have to change this thing about your product,’\u201d said Vincent Joralemon, a director at UC Berkeley\u2019s Center for Law & Technology. \u201cThat could really upset their profit.\u201d<\/p>\n

Meta made $60 billion in profit last year, Joralemon noted.<\/p>\n

Joralemon sees Meta\u2019s projection of a potential $1.4 trillion hit as a \u201cceiling\u201d but said penalties could amount to hundreds of billions of dollars.<\/p>\n

Opening statements are scheduled to start Tuesday, with lawyers representing California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky detailing their claims before Meta\u2019s legal team outlines the company\u2019s defenses.<\/p>\n

An advisory jury will hear the case, but its findings will not be binding. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will make the final decision.<\/p>\n

The four states are suing Meta under their consumer-protection laws. They also are suing on behalf of themselves and 25 other states over Meta\u2019s alleged collection and use of personal data from children under 13 in violation of federal law.<\/p>\n

The states claim millions of children use Meta\u2019s platforms, including millions of Instagram users under 13. Rogers said in a June order that \u201cmillions of teens use the platforms between midnight and four a.m. on a weekly basis.\u201d<\/p>\n

What the states want changed<\/p>\n

The states want Rogers to order Meta to remove allegedly addictive design features from Facebook and Instagram feeds for children under 18, including infinite scrolling, visible \u201clikes,\u201d beauty filters and algorithms intended to increase use.<\/p>\n

They also want limits on young users\u2019 daily time on the platforms, including blackout periods during school and at night. Meta could be required to prevent children from creating multiple accounts to evade parental controls and provide parents with dashboards showing their teenagers\u2019 usage.<\/p>\n

The states also want Meta to prevent children under 13 from accessing Facebook and Instagram, delete personal information collected from those users and purge algorithms and artificial intelligence models trained on their data.<\/p>\n

Other requested orders would prohibit Meta from making false or misleading statements about the safety and alleged addictiveness of its platforms, their use by children or the company\u2019s commitment to users\u2019 well-being.<\/p>\n

The requested injunctions could be \u201ccatastrophic\u201d for Meta if granted, Joralemon said.<\/p>\n

If the restrictions make Facebook and Instagram less engaging or harder for minors to use, \u201cwhat you\u2019ve done is cut off the pipeline for use of these products,\u201d he said. \u201cThat cuts off a lot of growth metrics for Meta.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Meta faces a host of similar legal actions over alleged harms to young people, experts view the Oakland trial as among the most consequential because it involves more than half the nation\u2019s states.<\/p>\n

Meta\u2019s rules prohibit children under 13 from creating Facebook or Instagram accounts. In September 2024, the company launched Instagram Teen Accounts, which include content screening, time limits and parental-supervision features for users 13 to 17.<\/p>\n

What Meta allegedly knew<\/p>\n

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg\u2019s statements and actions are expected to be central to the trial. He is on the states\u2019 witness list for three hours of testimony at some point during the trial, which is expected to last six to seven weeks.<\/p>\n

Rogers said in a June order that evidence of \u201calleged deceptive statements\u201d indicates \u201cMeta executives and other high-ranked employees were included in email and other conversations discussing that the platforms may induce compulsive use by teens.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge highlighted Zuckerberg\u2019s \u201cyes\u201d response in a deposition when asked if Meta knew problematic use was \u201ca real issue for a meaningful portion of its users.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, Rogers removed Zuckerberg as a defendant in 2024, saying the evidence at that time did not \u201cplausibly support the inference that Zuckerberg participated in a scheme or directed any employee to conceal information.\u201d<\/p>\n

The states argued in court filings that they have \u201crobust evidence\u201d Zuckerberg rescinded a temporary ban on photo-modification filters replicating the effects of plastic surgery. The states claim such filters have been linked to eating disorders, anxiety and depression that can lead to suicide.<\/p>\n

Also on the witness list are current and former Meta employees and executives, including Instagram head Adam Mosseri, along with academics and child-psychology experts.<\/p>\n

Two prominent whistleblowers could testify: former Facebook product manager Frances Haugen and former Meta researcher Jason Sattizahn. Haugen told Congress in 2021<\/a> that company leaders knew how to make Facebook and Instagram safer but refused because they \u201cput their immense profits before people.\u201d Sattizahn told Congress last year<\/a> that Meta covered up dangers associated with its platforms.<\/p>\n

Joralemon said he expects Meta to argue that it used its research into young users\u2019 experiences to reduce potential harms and that young people benefit from the social connections its platforms provide.<\/p>\n

How Meta is fighting claims<\/p>\n

Meta also has challenged the scientific basis of the states\u2019 case. In a July court filing, the company argued that social media addiction \u201cis not a recognized medical or psychiatric condition.\u201d Even assuming it did exist, the filing said, the states lack evidence showing Meta executives\u2019 statements denying their platforms were addictive were knowingly false.<\/p>\n

Meta argued in a 2023 filing that its rules prohibit users under 13 from creating Facebook or Instagram accounts.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn every case of under-13 use, a decision was made to violate the service\u2019s terms of use and create an account,\u201d the company said, adding that any harms from those signups are \u201creasonably avoidable\u201d by the users themselves.<\/p>\n

Statements by company employees or executives about product safety and user well-being were matters of opinion, not fact, the company said.<\/p>\n

Meta also claims Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which insulates social media companies from liability over content posted by third parties, and the First Amendment prevent it from being held liable.<\/p>\n

The states contend they are challenging Meta\u2019s own product design and representations about safety, rather than attempting to hold it responsible for content posted by its users.<\/p>\n

Meta also disputes the states\u2019 claims that accounts involving children\u2019s programs and characters show Facebook and Instagram were directed at children. The company said accounts featuring properties such as \u201cBluey,\u201d \u201cPaw Patrol\u201d and \u201cSesame Street\u201d provide information to parents rather than programming or interactive content for children.<\/p>\n

The states argue Meta \u201cwas well-aware of the addictiveness of its platforms and designed and implemented several novel features intended to induce more compulsive use, all based on extensive internal research into the unique vulnerabilities of the teenage brain.\u201d<\/p>\n

Those features include image filters and the ability for teenagers to create multiple accounts to evade parental oversight, the states said.<\/p>\n

The states also claim Meta\u2019s voluntary tools for limiting teenagers\u2019 social media use are undermined by other features encouraging them to remain on the platforms. Meta\u2019s age-verification processes remain insufficient, they argue, allowing children under 13 to create accounts and evade parental oversight.<\/p>\n

Meta responded to public criticism with statements that \u201cdeceptively sought to reassure consumers that it prioritizes health and safety over its own business interests,\u201d the states claimed.<\/p>\n

Recent verdicts raise the stakes<\/p>\n

The Oakland case follows two major courtroom losses for Meta earlier this year.<\/p>\n

In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google\u2019s YouTube liable<\/a> for harm to a young woman who testified that she became addicted to their products as a child. Jurors awarded her $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages, with Meta assigned 70% of the total.<\/p>\n

A day earlier, a New Mexico jury found Meta knowingly harmed children\u2019s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Jurors imposed a $375 million penalty.<\/p>\n

A judge later ordered Meta to put an additional $567 million into programs addressing harm to young people, bringing the total to $942 million. The judge also ordered changes in New Mexico that include hiding public \u201clike\u201d counts and imposing mandatory time limits for users under 18. Meta plans to appeal.<\/p>\n

No matter the final financial penalty, Joralemon said, restrictions that reduce young people\u2019s engagement could threaten something even more valuable to Meta: its future growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Meta goes on trial this week in Oakland over allegations it built Facebook and Instagram to addict children,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436218,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[34],"tags":[389,184,387,7,1312,332,23695,7644,181,23,21163,2649,100,143,145,144,395,397,4568,1970],"class_list":["post-436217","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-oakland","tag-alameda-county","tag-bay-area","tag-business","tag-california","tag-courts","tag-east-bay","tag-facebook-meta","tag-instagram","tag-latest-headlines","tag-local-news","tag-mark-zuckerberg","tag-menlo-park","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-oakland-headlines","tag-oakland-news","tag-peninsula","tag-san-mateo-county","tag-social-media","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436217","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436217"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436217\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436218"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436217"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436217"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436217"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}