The American technological giant Meta returns to court today in the United States, accused by a group of 29 state prosecutors of designing functionalities to generate dependency on children and adolescents on social networks Instagram and Facebook.
© Lusa
18/08/2026
by
Lusa
Tit is one of the largest legal battles in Mark Zuckerberg's company, where the fine to be paid can reach 1.4 billion dollars (about 1.2 billion euros), according to estimates.
Federal judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers and a jury composed of eight people will hear from today in Oakland court in northern California the arguments put forward by prosecutors, who maintain that Meta violated the Children's Privacy Protection Act on the Internet (COPPA) by illegally collecting information from children under the age of 13.
They will also examine the additional charge of four states – California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey – according to which the technological giant violated consumer protection laws.
The trial is part of a broader “multidistrital” lawsuit involving more than 3,000 plaintiffs against Meta and other companies in the information technology sector, such as Google, TikTok and Snap.
The actions claim that these companies have designed their platforms to maximize the time users spend in front of screens, which can foster additive behaviors between children and adolescents and cause emotional and physical damage, and may even lead to death in more serious cases.
The trial, which we're starting today, is the first case of COPPA violation to reach a jury review.
Jury selection started last Wednesday, initial allegations are scheduled for today, and the trial is expected to last approximately seven weeks
Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers (who also presides over the case of Elon Musk against OpenAI) is expected to release her verdict in October.
The technological giant goes to trial in a federal court in Northern California after several defeats in lower court instances.
A court in the district of Santa Fe, New Mexico, ordered at the beginning of this month that the Meta pay $567 million (EUR 489 million) to a fund of compensation for the mental health of young people, because it considers that its commercial practices are harmful to the health and safety of adolescents.
In March 2026, a Los Angeles court ordered Meta and Google to pay a total of six million dollars (€5.1 million) to a 20-year-old girl who sued them for neglect and dependence on social media during her teenage years. The Meta accounts for 70% of the total, while Google will cover the remaining 30%.