Lawyers for four states delivered opening statements Tuesday in an Oakland federal courtroom, telling an eight-person jury that Meta deliberately built Facebook and Instagram to addict children and teenagers and then misled the public about the risks.
California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are leading the consumer-protection claims on behalf of a bipartisan group of 29 states. The states also bring a federal claim alleging that Meta collected and used personal data from users under 13 without verifiable parental consent, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act. The case is the first to reach trial in the multidistrict litigation over social media and youth mental health, which covers thousands of active cases.
