Overview
- The federal bellwether trial before Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers opened Tuesday with California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey leading a 29‑state coalition and an advisory jury hearing evidence.
- Plaintiffs say Meta built features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, like counts and recommendation algorithms to maximize minors’ time on platform and that those designs caused anxiety, depression and other harms.
- States allege Meta also violated the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data on children under 13 without parental consent and seek broad structural remedies for under‑18 accounts.
- Prosecutors have asked for theoretical damages up to $1.4 trillion while also seeking orders to remove or limit features and require age‑assurance; Meta calls the requests disproportionate and plans to defend and appeal adverse rulings.
- Recent state rulings — notably New Mexico’s roughly $942 million order and required product changes — bolster the states’ strategy and signal how the federal outcome could force platform design and advertising changes that affect users and revenue.