Mark Zuckerberg may soon have to take the stand again. And this time, the number on the table is $1.4 trillion. That figure alone should tell you everything about how serious this case has become, even if the judge has already called it ‘unreasonable.’
As reported by Engadget, Meta headed to federal court in Oakland, California on Tuesday for yet another trial over social media addiction and the alleged harm its apps have caused to children and teenagers. The case was brought by dozens of states in 2023, accusing Meta of deliberately building addictive features into Instagram and Facebook, misleading the public about app safety, and violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act, better known as COPPA.
That last charge is the most damaging. The states allege Meta knew it had users under 13 on its platforms and collected their data without parental consent. That’s not a gray area in U.S. law. COPPA is explicit about what companies can and cannot do with children’s data, and if the states can prove Meta knowingly ignored those rules, the company has a serious problem on its hands.
Meta, predictably, is pushing back hard. A company spokesperson called the states’ financial demands ‘vastly disproportionate’ and said there’s ‘no proof anyone in their states was misled.’ The company also pointed to age verification as an ‘industry-wide challenge,’ which is a convenient way of saying: everyone was doing it. That argument rarely holds up as a legal defense, and it’s worth remembering that Meta’s own internal research, leaked in 2021, showed the company knew Instagram was damaging to teenage girls’ mental health and kept that information quiet.
The financial stakes here go beyond this single case. Meta disclosed it spent $2.4 billion on legal costs in just the second quarter of 2026. Juries in Los Angeles and New Mexico have already ruled against the company in related trials this year, and Meta is appealing both verdicts. A loss in Oakland wouldn’t just hurt the balance sheet. It would make it easier for the thousands of other pending lawsuits to move forward, because plaintiffs could point to a pattern of courts finding Meta liable.
Federal Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will have the final word on both the verdict and penalties. An eight-member jury will play only an advisory role, which is unusual. Testimony from Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri is expected during the trial’s six-week run.
So what does this mean for users? Possibly very little in practical terms, at least in the short term. But if states win even a fraction of what they’re seeking, it sends a clear signal that collecting children’s data without consent carries real consequences. That pressure, more than any voluntary pledge from Meta, is what might actually change behavior.