A look at major lawsuits against Meta and other social media companies

A settlement announced Wednesday between Meta and dozens of states resolves one of its biggest legal fights, but the social media giant is still facing litigation elsewhere over its products’ effects on young people’s mental health

A settlement announced Wednesday between Meta and dozens of states resolves one of its biggest legal fights, but the social media giant is still facing litigation elsewhere over its products' effects on young people's mental health.

The deal cut short a landmark trial in federal court in Oakland, California, where the Instagram and Facebook parent company was fighting claims that it deliberately designed features that get children addicted . The agreement calls for Meta to pay out up to $18 billion and make a changes to how their platforms are operated, with new guardrails for kid safety.

It is one of many courtrooms around the country where Meta, TikTok, Snapchat and YouTube have been defending themselves against allegations their platforms have negatively impacted children’s mental health or otherwise hurt them.

Here is a look at some of the biggest cases against social media companies.

The settlement hit during the second week of what was expected to be a six-week trial in Oakland , with testimony from witnesses that would have likely included Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg.

It featured four states as plaintiffs: California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. They were among dozens of states that filed a lawsuit three years ago targeting Meta’s design features and the subsequent harm to children on its platforms. The other 25 states were expecting to have trials later, but the settlement also stops those from going forward.

The states were seeking extensive financial damages that could, in theory, total billions of dollars, plus changes to how the company operates Facebook and Instagram.

The settlement also resolved a trial that was underway in Tennessee against Meta.

The Tennessee attorney general’s office was a part of the multistate investigation into social media companies that resulted in the 2023 filing against Meta by dozens of states, but opted to file in its own local court.

“We took Meta to trial because Instagram was hurting kids and misleading parents. Now we’re ending the trial with a settlement that imposes unprecedented protections for kids and delivers record-setting money for Tennessee’s Children’s Digital Protection Fund,” Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti said.

Skrmetti, and several other attorneys general, said the settlement addressed Meta's role in an “industrywide problem" and implored other social platforms to follow suit in implementing similar safety measures.

New Mexico was not among the 48 states involved in the settlement because it already won a court case against Meta.

The state argued the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. A jury sided with the state in March , finding there were thousands of violations, each counting separately toward a penalty of $375 million.