Meta faces high-stakes trial in California over alleged harms to children
A federal jury in Oakland will hear a case brought by a coalition of state attorneys general accusing Meta of violating child-privacy and consumer-protection laws, with potential penalties that could reshape the company's operations.
Opening arguments began Tuesday in a federal courtroom in Oakland as a coalition of 29 state attorneys general, led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, sued Meta Platforms Inc. for alleged violations of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act and state consumer-protection statutes. The plaintiffs contend that Facebook and Instagram were designed to encourage addictive use among minors and that Meta misrepresented the safety of its products.
"Meta designed a dangerous product for young users, knew it to be dangerous, and then lied to children, families, and the community about how dangerous it was," Bonta said in a statement.
The case follows a recent New Mexico judgment that ordered Meta to pay nearly $1 billion and to implement age-verification tools, including an AI-based model to predict users under 13. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez warned that a similar ruling in California could have far-reaching financial and operational impacts.
"If you map that same argument onto California or Florida or Texas or New York, I mean, that's a potentially massive and a market-shifting force," Torrez told CNBC.
Meta has denied the allegations, calling the claims "unsubstantiated" and the financial demands "disproportionate." The company argues that the states have not shown that users were misled and that the requested design changes could conflict with Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act and First Amendment protections.
State lawyers are seeking permanent nationwide injunctive relief, including the removal of features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and algorithmic content recommendations, as well as the deletion of personal data collected from children under 13. They also request that Meta eliminate certain design elements they deem addictive.
Legal analysts note that the trial could set a precedent for how tech companies are held accountable for product design, and that any substantial judgment could affect Meta’s ability to fund its ongoing investments in artificial-intelligence infrastructure.