Jury selection begins in Meta youth harms trial in Oakland
Federal case alleges Meta harmed youth mental health and illegally tracked children; trial expected to last six to eight weeks.
Conversation activity · last 20 hours peak 5/30m
Latest coverage newest 5 of 5 items
Summary, timeline and people extracted by Claude from 9 items across 3 sources · 10h ago. Quotes are verbatim.
What to know
- Jury selection started Wednesday in a federal trial where 29 states allege Meta knowingly harmed youth mental health and collected data on children under 13 without parental consent.
- The Oakland trial involves four states (California, Colorado, Kentucky, New Jersey) and is expected to last six to eight weeks.
- Meta faces prior judgments of $375 million (March 2026) and $567 million (August 2026) in a New Mexico trial; the company is appealing and says it has added safety features.
- This is one of multiple lawsuits against Meta and other social media platforms over claims of harm to youth and addictive design.
How it unfolded
-
News outlets including Seattle Times, Philadelphia Inquirer, Baltimore Sun, and Orlando Sentinel report on jury selection in the federal trial, noting that Meta faces 29 states in the multidistrict lawsuit filed in 2023, though the Oakland trial focuses on the first four states.
-
Jury selection began Wednesday in Meta's federal trial in Oakland, California, over claims its platforms have harmed youth mental health and tracked children under 13 without parental consent in violation of federal law. Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers questioned prospective jurors about their social media use and any biases regarding social media companies.
- 8 days quiet
-
Last week, a New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial. Prosecutors had sought fundamental changes at Meta including reining in addictive features, improving age verification, and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings.
- 22 weeks quiet
-
In March 2026, jurors in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties after determining the company knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
What people are saying verbatim
“Meta has harnessed powerful and unprecedented technologies to entice, engage, and ultimately ensnare youth and teens. Its motive is profit, and in seeking to maximize its financial gains, Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the substantial dangers of its social media platforms.”
States' complaint, Plaintiffs · AP News ↗
“It has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”
States' complaint, Plaintiffs · AP News ↗
“We strongly disagree with these allegations and are confident the evidence will show our longstanding commi…”
Meta, Defendant · AP News ↗