Jury selection began Wednesday, August 12, 2026, in Oakland, California, in the federal trial over claims that Meta's platforms harmed youth mental health and tracked children under 13 in violation of federal law, the Associated Press reported.
What is on trial in Oakland
Opening arguments are scheduled for next week, and the trial is expected to run six to eight weeks. Meta faces 29 states in the federal multidistrict lawsuit filed in 2023, but this first trial includes only four of them — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. Eight other states filed in their own state courts, including Tennessee, where a trial is already ongoing.
The 2023 complaint alleges that Meta routinely collected data on children under 13 without parental consent, in violation of federal law, and that the company “repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms.” The states are seeking penalties and structural changes to how the platforms are designed for young users.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers — the judge overseeing the federal social media litigation in the Northern District of California — asked prospective jurors about their own social media activity, what they had heard about other Meta lawsuits, and whether they held strong views about social media companies.
How this differs from the individual family cases
This is a government enforcement trial. The state attorneys general are suing on behalf of the public, and any penalties or injunctive relief go toward punishing the company and changing platform design — not to individual families.
Separately, thousands of personal injury claims brought by families are consolidated before the same court as MDL No. 3047 (N.D. Cal.). A parent whose child was harmed receives nothing from the state trial. To preserve an individual claim, a family has to retain counsel and file its own complaint, and the deadline depends on the statute of limitations in their state.
There is no MDL-wide settlement, no public claim form, and no guaranteed recovery in any case.
The wider picture heading into trial
The Oakland trial follows a run of adverse developments for Meta. Last week a New Mexico court ordered the company to pay $567 million to address harms to young people, in the second phase of that state's landmark trial. That came on top of the $375 million in civil penalties jurors imposed in March after finding Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Meta is appealing the New Mexico decision.
Meta disputes the states' claims. “We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commitment to supporting young people,” the company said in a statement, pointing to teen-safety features it has introduced.
The case is part of a broader wave of litigation against Meta, TikTok, Snap and Google's YouTube over addictive design, data collection from minors, and youth mental health. A dated log of these developments is kept on the case updates page.
Read more on the specific harms
If you are trying to understand how these claims map to a particular platform and a particular injury, these pages break it down:
- Instagram and teen depression or anxiety
- Instagram and body image harm
- Facebook and compulsive use
- Instagram and self-harm
If your family was affected
A free case review looks at which platforms were involved, your child's age at the time, what harm occurred, and what filing deadline applies where you live. There is no cost and no obligation, and no outcome is promised.
If you or your child is in crisis, call or text 988 for the Suicide & Crisis Lifeline, text HOME to 741741 for the Crisis Text Line, or call 911 in an emergency.
Attorney advertising. Responsible attorney: Sean Patrick Quinlan, Esq., Quinlan Law Group, PA Supreme Court ID 86858. This article is general information, not legal advice, and does not create an attorney-client relationship.