A high-stakes federal trial against Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, kicked off on August 18, 2026, in Oakland, California. A bipartisan coalition of 29 U.S. state attorneys general is accusing the social media giant of deliberately engineering its platforms to addict children and teenagers, contributing to a youth mental health crisis, while misleading the public about the risks and improperly collecting data on underage users. The case, led by C