Opening statements begin in the biggest consumer protection case in the US

Opening Statements Begin in the Biggest Consumer Protection Case in the US

Opening statements in the Meta social media trial begin today in Oakland. The $1.4 trillion figure everyone is quoting came from Meta’s own lawyers, not the states, who told the court last week that $193 billion is closer. The jury is advisory, so a judge decides.

August 17, 2026 – 11:21 pm

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Opening statements in the states’ case against Meta begin today in Oakland. The court seated a jury last week. The trial should run about five weeks.

Twenty-nine state attorneys general brought the case in 2023. Lawyers for California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey will argue it. They allege that Meta designed Facebook and Instagram to drive compulsive use by children, then misled the public about the risks.

Almost every outlet covering the Meta social media trial reports two things:

• The $1.4 trillion figure belongs to Meta. This number did not come from the states; it was produced by Meta’s own lawyers, calculating the theoretical maximum if every alleged violation drew the full statutory penalty of $20,000. We flagged this in July when Meta stated four states wanted $1.4 trillion. Since then, the states have put their own figure on the record.

• The jury decides. Incorrect! The Oakland jury serves only in an advisory capacity. US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will decide whether Meta bears liability and what penalties follow. González Rogers has spent nearly two decades on the federal bench and is known for her incisive and direct style.

That changes how to interpret the next five weeks, during which Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri are expected to testify. They will be addressing a judge, not twelve jurors.

What the states want changed:

Lawyers on both sides agree that the money is not the main concern. The states seek:

• Permanent injunctive relief nationwide rather than state by state.
• Deletion of all personal data collected from users under 13, plus the algorithms and models trained on it.
• Specific changes to features like infinite scroll, autoplay, ephemeral content, beauty filters, and engagement-optimised recommendation algorithms.
• Other measures, such as like counts, a ban on multiple accounts, and parental verification for teenagers.

Analyst Minda Smiley notes that a trillion-dollar penalty would be symbolic at this stage. She suggests the lawsuits could lead to significant design changes to the platforms.

Meta’s answer:

Meta denies the allegations.