Meta Goes to Trial in Oakland Over Claims Its Platforms Harm Kids

Jury selection opened Wednesday in Oakland federal court for the first trial in a 29-state lawsuit accusing Meta of designing Instagram and Facebook in ways that hook minors.

The trial is expected to last six to eight weeks.

This Oakland case covers only four of the 29 states in the 2023 federal multidistrict litigation: California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. Eight other states filed parallel suits in state courts, including an ongoing trial in Tennessee. The 2023 complaint alleges Meta routinely collected data on children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act, and that the company concealed platform dangers while exploiting minors for profit.

The federal case is the first venue asking a jury to order operational changes, not just damages. States want age verification, default privacy settings, restrictions on addictive features, and new child-safety oversight.

A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million last week in the second phase of a separate youth-harms trial, and a jury in March hit the company with a $375 million civil verdict for knowingly harming children's mental health. The federal question now is whether courts can dictate how Meta's products are built.

The litigation wave also names YouTube, TikTok, and Snap on parallel claims. Meta did not comment in the wire report.