Meta will face allegations that it used practices that negatively affect the mental health of children and young people and lead to social media addiction at a hearing in which California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey will be plaintiffs. The lawsuit brought by 29 U.S. states is expected to be heard tomorrow in Oakland, California.
The lawsuits filed by the other 25 states are scheduled to be heard at a later date. The state attorneys general are seeking up to $1.4 trillion in monetary damages from Meta, as well as changes to the way Facebook and Instagram operate.
Allegations against Meta's platforms
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, is alleged to have designed its platforms to make children addicted and to have negatively affected the mental health of young people.
The case file also alleges that data belonging to children under the age of 13 was collected without their parents' knowledge, violating federal law. It further alleges that Meta used advanced technologies to capture young people's attention and exploit them to increase the company's revenues.
States' demands for changes
The states' demands include obtaining parental consent for young users, changing algorithms alleged to involve dopamine manipulation, and removing filters that alter users' appearance in photos.
The attorneys general are also calling for video content not to play automatically, measures to prevent users from opening multiple accounts, and an end to the sharing of content on Instagram that disappears after a certain period.
Meta's defense and possible consequences
Meta denied the allegations and argued that the evidence would show the company supports young people. In a filing submitted by the company to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California on July 6, it said that no comparable sanction of this scale had been seen in the history of enforcement aimed at protecting consumer rights.
Meta could face severe consequences if it loses the lawsuit. The company had previously lost two lawsuits over allegations that it harmed young people and children. Meta said last month that it had suffered a loss of profit following $2.4 billion in costs from earlier legal proceedings.
It is alleged that Meta could be driven into bankruptcy or that the company could come under state ownership if it loses the lawsuits and is required to pay up to $1.4 trillion. Law Professor James Grimmelmann said the court could have broad discretion over the amount of the penalty, but that a penalty approaching $1.4 trillion was unlikely to be imposed.
Previous rulings involving Meta
A judge in New Mexico ruled on August 7 that Meta bore responsibility for the crisis affecting children's mental health and ordered the company to pay $567 million in damages.
In September 2024, Instagram launched Teen Accounts, which include safety measures and limit how children and young people use the platform. In an announcement on April 8, 2025, the platform said users under 16 would not be able to use the live-streaming feature without parental permission and would not be able to disable automatic blurring in direct messages.
