Meta loses last minute bid to pause landmark state AGs trial

META Platforms failed to obtain an emergency order pausing a landmark trial slated to begin this week involving claims from dozens of state attorneys general alleging the social media giant addicts children and has caused a youth mental health crisis.

A three-judge panel for the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit in a ruling on Monday (Aug 10) said the court lacked the jurisdiction to review Meta’s early appeal and dismissed it.

The ruling means Meta must defend against a possible US$1.4 trillion penalty request by the state AGs at the trial, which is scheduled to begin with jury selection on Wednesday in federal court in Oakland, California. Opening arguments begin on Aug 18, and the trial is expected to last several weeks.

A Meta spokesperson didn’t immediately return a request for comment on the Ninth Circuit ruling.

Meta is facing a torrent of legal attacks across the country from state AGs, consumer attorneys, and school districts over its role in harming youth mental health through Instagram and Facebook.

The company must pay an almost US$950 million total penalty in a separate case brought by the New Mexico attorney general in state court. In that case, a jury returned a US$375 million verdict in March, and the judge last week tacked on an additional US$567 million Meta must pay the state to setup a mental health fund.

Meta is midway through trial in Tennessee state court where the attorney general is bringing his own consumer protection case over youth social media addiction.

In the multi-state case in Oakland federal court, the social media giant brought an early appeal to the Ninth Circuit of Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers’ ruling that denied Meta’s motion to dismiss the case.

Meta argued that Section 230 of the federal Communications Decency Act, which provides a broad legal shield for lawsuits against internet platforms, prohibits addiction-related lawsuits.

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The Ninth Circuit’s Monday ruling, authored by Judge Jacqueline Nguyen, said lower-court rulings are generally unreviewable before the case has reached a final judgment. Nguyen rejected Meta’s arguments that its case can be reviewed under a narrow set of exceptions.

Meta had also requested an emergency order from the Ninth Circuit to pause the trial, but Nguyen’s opinion said that issue is moot because the court lacks jurisdiction.

Individual personal injury lawsuits, as well as cases brought by school districts, continue to balloon in California state and federal court.

Earlier this year, a Los Angeles state court jury awarded a woman US$6 million in a case involving claims that Meta and Google’s YouTube caused her anxiety and depression. The first school district trials are schedule to begin in February 2027. BLOOMBERG