Meta bellwether trial overview:
- Who: Meta is facing a bellwether trial brought by four state attorneys general.
- Why: The states allege Meta’s social media platforms harm the mental health of children and are intentionally designed to be addictive.
- Where: The Meta bellwether trial is taking place in California federal court.
- How to get help: If you or your child developed signs of social media addiction before age 18 and were diagnosed with a related mental health condition, you may be eligible to pursue a social media lawsuit.
A bellwether trial is underway over state claims from Kentucky, California, Colorado and New Jersey that Meta’s social media platforms harm children’s mental health and were intentionally designed to be addictive.
The stakes are high, with one legal expert calling the fight “existential” to the social media industry, Law360 reports.
The federal trial in Oakland, California, before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers kicked off with jury selection, followed by opening statements slated for Aug. 18.
Eric Goldman, Santa Clara University School of Law professor and co-director of the school’s Datta Center for High Tech Law said, “The state [attorneys general] have requested $1.4 trillion in damages, which signals that they think the harms being caused by social media may exceed the companies’ net worth. As a result, the potential damages pose an existential threat to the social media industry.”
Meta has already faced major legal defeats in separate state lawsuits earlier this year over the allegedly addictive design of its platforms and the resulting mental health impacts on minors. The social media giant is appealing both losses.
In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for harming a woman’s mental health after she alleged she became hooked on their social media platforms as a child, awarding her $6 million.
Prior to that, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties following a trial over claims from the state’s attorney general that the Facebook parent company hid the full breadth of mental health harm its apps caused to minor users.
Meta ordered to make platform changes to protect young users
On Aug. 6, the presiding New Mexico state judge issued a bench ruling putting Meta on the hook for an additional $567 million into a public nuisance abatement fund and mandated strict measures to protect younger users.
The New Mexico judge ordered Meta to change its business practices, Goldman said.
“If the state AGs in the [multidistrict litigation] can get similar remedies, that too could dramatically change how consumers interact with social media,” Goldman said, as reported by Law360.
Meanwhile, Stanford Law School professor Nora Freeman Engstrom said the trial’s implications extend beyond the case. “Meta isn’t just defending itself in one trial,” Engstrom said, adding: “It’s trying to fend off a legal theory that, if successful, could be replicated nationwide.”
The Meta bellwether trial will focus on what the company knew about the risks to children and despite this whether it chose to protect young users — “or look out for its bottom line,” Engstrom stated.
In other social media addiction lawsuits, four parents are suing Meta, Google, TikTok, Snap and other companies, alleging addictive platform designs and algorithms contributed to their children’s deaths.
What do you think about the allegations made in the Meta bellwether trial? Share your thoughts in the comments below.
The states are represented by their respective attorneys general.
The Meta lawsuit is People of the State of California, et al. v. Meta Platforms Inc., Case No. 4:23-cv-05448; the Meta MDL is In re: Social Media Adolescent Addiction/Personal Injury Products Liability Litigation, Case No. 4:22-md-03047, both in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California.
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