Judge lets states' child addiction lawsuit against Meta move forward

A federal judge in Oakland refused to throw out 29 states’ lawsuit accusing Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to hook children, keeping alive claims that the company concealed the alleged harm from parents and the public. U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers said material factual disputes remain over whether the platforms were addictive, whether Meta falsely denied designing them that way, and whether the services were partly directed at children.

The case centers on product features built to keep minors engaged: infinite scroll, autoplay, notifications, likes, filters and multiple-account functionality. Those design choices were paired with public denials from Meta executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, even as the company allegedly knew the platforms could drive compulsive use. Heavy use of Facebook and Instagram has been linked to depression, anxiety, insomnia, disruptions to school and daily life, and even self-harm and suicide.

Gonzalez Rogers let the deception, unfair-practices and Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act claims move forward, and she also granted summary judgment to the states on COPPA notice and parental-consent requirements. COPPA first went into effect in 2000 and requires covered online services directed to children under 13 to notify parents and obtain verifiable parental consent before collecting personal information. The ruling leaves the lawsuit on track for fuller fact discovery and, potentially, a jury trial.

The coalition behind the suit has changed since it was first filed. The original federal case included 33 attorneys general on October 24, 2023, and Colorado later said 42 attorneys general had signed onto the broader national action. The current case involves 29 state attorneys general.

Gonzalez Rogers already presides over related multidistrict litigation with more than 2,600 plaintiffs, school districts and local governments, including claims against Meta, Google and YouTube, Snap, and ByteDance’s TikTok. She had previously allowed many consumer-protection claims to survive while trimming some Section 230 theories, and in April Meta’s motion was its last chance to defeat or narrow the case before an August 2026 trial.

In March 2026, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in a separate social-media-addiction case brought by a young woman. Meta said it strongly disagrees with the allegations and remains confident the evidence will show its commitment to young people.