California is becoming a critical battleground in the growing legal fight over how Meta designs and operates Facebook and Instagram, with the company facing allegations that its platforms encourage addictive behavior among children and teenagers. Opening arguments begin Tuesday in a federal trial in Oakland brought by a coalition of 29 state attorneys general, with California, Colorado, New Jersey and Kentucky presenting the case.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, accuses Meta of violating federal and state laws, including the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act. The case comes as regulators and lawmakers across the U.S. increasingly focus on the potential impact of social media on young users.
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California Could Raise The Stakes
The trial follows a major setback for Meta in New Mexico, where the company lost a case earlier this month and was ordered to pay $567 million into an abatement fund. A jury had previously found Meta liable for $375 million under the state’s unfair practices law, although the company has said it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the judgment as significant but said the consequences could be far greater if similar arguments succeed in California, Florida, Texas or New York. Julia Powles, executive director of the UCLA Institute for Technology, Law and Policy, also called California particularly important because decisions there can have influence beyond the state.
The financial stakes are especially high for Meta because about 98% of its revenue comes from online advertising. That business is also helping CEO Mark Zuckerberg fund Meta’s massive AI push, with spending potentially reaching $145 billion this year.
States Focus On Platform Design
Rather than concentrating solely on content posted by users, the lawsuits target the design of platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. This approach could help states avoid Section 230 protections, which have traditionally limited tech companies’ liability for third-party content.
New Mexico, for example, ordered Meta to strengthen age-assurance tools, develop technology to identify users under 13 and make it easier to report potentially underage accounts. Torrez said those measures could provide a blueprint for other states seeking to hold social media companies accountable.
Meta has already faced another setback in California. In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent and ruled that the companies failed to adequately warn users about risks associated with their platforms.
California Attorney General Rob Bonta has accused Meta of knowingly creating products that can harm young users and misleading children, families and the public about those risks. Meta rejects the allegations, saying the states have offered no evidence that their residents were misled and that their financial demands are disproportionate.
