Jury selection begins in Meta trial over youth mental health claims

29-state lawsuit opens with four states in Oakland

Jury selection began Wednesday in Oakland, California, in Meta’s federal trial over claims that its platforms have harmed youth mental health and track children in violation of federal law.

The trial is scheduled to begin next week and is expected to last six to eight weeks.

Meta faces 29 states in the federal multidistrict lawsuit filed in 2023.

The Oakland trial will include only the first four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.

Eight states, including Tennessee where a trial is ongoing, filed lawsuits in their own state courts.

The 2023 lawsuit, filed in federal court in Oakland, claims that Meta routinely collects data on children under 13 without their parents’ consent, in violation of federal law.

“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,” the complaint says.

The complaint also says Meta “has concealed the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate its most vulnerable consumers: teenagers and children.”