Meta faces landmark federal trial over alleged child privacy violations and deceptive practices

A federal civil trial is underway in the US District Court for the Northern District of California, where 29 state attorneys general allege Meta violated the federal Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by improperly collecting personal information from users under 13 without parental consent.

The lawsuit, led by attorneys general from California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, also accuses Meta of making deceptive statements about its platforms that misled consumers. The focus of the trial is on two Meta apps: Facebook and Instagram.

Meta has denied the allegations, asserting that it satisfied COPPA requirements in the relevant states and that its statements about the apps were not deceptive. The company is also invoking Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, which shields platforms from liability for user-generated content.

The trial follows a landmark California case in the spring where Meta, along with YouTube, was found liable for harming a young user through certain design features. Additionally, Meta was ordered earlier this month to pay over $940 million in New Mexico for causing psychological harm to children and being a public nuisance.

During opening arguments, the plaintiffs’ legal team argued that Meta’s features are designed to keep users, including children, engaged for longer periods. Meta’s defense highlighted safety features added to its apps in recent years and acknowledged that some children and teens use the platforms despite efforts to manage screen time.

A key witness, former Meta employee Arturo Bejar, testified that youth safety was not prioritized during his tenure and that the company’s culture allowed untested features to be deployed without adequate harm screening.

The plaintiffs are seeking up to $200 billion in damages, and a ruling against Meta could force significant changes to core features of its platforms, such as stricter age-gating, enforcement of time limits for younger users, elimination of likes and endless scroll for minors, and greater transparency in how feeds are algorithmically curated.

Observers noted that while jurors may not frequently use Facebook, many are concerned about their own or their children’s use of Instagram, reflecting broader societal concerns about social media’s impact on youth.