Meta Platforms Inc. Faces Federal Trial Over Addictive Design

The social media company Meta Platforms Inc. will begin a federal trial on August 12, 2026, in Oakland, California, to address allegations that it deliberately designed Instagram and Facebook to be addictive for children. The lawsuit was brought by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, who are seeking operational restrictions for minors and penalties totaling up to $1.4 trillion.

The prosecution intends to call CEO Mark Zuckerberg as a star witness. The legal action follows the 2021 Facebook Files leak by former employee Frances Haugen, which indicated that the company downplayed internal research concerning harms to teenage girls. Meta Platforms Inc. has denied the allegations, arguing that mental health challenges are an industry-wide issue.

This trial follows previous legal defeats for the company. Meta Platforms Inc. was previously convicted in Los Angeles for social media addiction and was ordered by a judge in New Mexico to pay over half a billion dollars in damages to fund treatment for harms caused by its platforms.