Meta goes on trial today as 29 states, including South Dakota, seek $1.4 trillion in damages for all the harm Facebook and its other intentionally addictive social media products have done to children:
…One of the suit’s central arguments is that Meta designed and deployed features to capture young users’ attention and prolong their time on social media, including the “like” button, the infinite-scroll function and recommendation algorithms that “encourage compulsive use.” The company financially benefited from this, the suit claims, because Meta makes money from advertising. The longer kids stay on Meta’s sites — and the more effectively that advertising can be targeted to them — the more money Meta stands to make.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta prioritized engagement over young users’ safety, creating products that disrupted their education and sleep and, in the case of visual filters, were known to promote eating disorders and body dysmorphia. This happened, the states argue, despite public statements by Meta that its platforms were designed to support the well-being of young users [John Ruwitch, “Meta Heads to Court in a Landmark Trial About Kids and Social Media Addiction,” NPR: Morning Edition, 2026.08.17].
Leading the lawsuit are the Democratic Attorneys General of California, Colorado, and New Jersey and the Republican A.G. of Kentucky. Attorney General Marty Jackley has had the good sense to sign South Dakota up for this fight against Facebook and surveillance capitalism’s ruthless snaring and consumption of children’s souls for profit:
South Dakota Attorney General Marty Jackley said a bipartisan coalition of Attorneys General will begin presenting its case Tuesday in its federal lawsuit against Meta. The coalition alleges the social media giant knowingly designed and deployed harmful features on Facebook and Instagram that drive compulsive use of the platforms by children and teens, while falsely assuring parents and the public that its platforms were safe for young users.
“We have waited three years for this case to go to trial, and the state coalition is ready to present its case,” said Attorney General Jackley. “It is time to hold Meta accountable for designing a dangerous product that targeted children and then lying about it to parents, children, and officials.”
…Opening statements begin Tuesday before the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and is expected to last six to eight weeks [Office of the Attorney General, press release, 2026.08.17].
Kentucky AG Russell Coleman likens the battle against Meta’s crimes against humanity to the successful prosecutions of Big Tobacco and Big Pharma:
This week, we’re in court with the largest consumer protection lawsuit in American history. We’ll show a jury that Meta concealed what it knew about the harm its products cause young people because looking away was more profitable…. AGs are in the perfect position to get this done. We did it with the Tobacco Settlement in the 1990s. We did it with the companies behind the opioid crisis. We’ll do it again with Meta [Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman, quoted in California Attorney General’s Office, press release, 2026.08.17].
Tobacco, opioids, Facebook—yup, that analogy works.
The lead AGs likely have all the arguments well in hand, and Marty’s going to be too busy campaigning for Congress to fly down to Oakland to address the court in person, but let’s hope we hear Marty say more on the campaign trail about his commitment to fighting Facebook’s destructive commodification of children not only with lawsuits but with toothy federal regulation of social media.