A landmark federal trial against Meta — the owner of Facebook and Instagram — opened in California on Tuesday, August 18. Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman is helping lead 28 other state attorneys general who say Meta failed to protect kids on its platforms and lied to parents about the harm those platforms cause.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta deliberately engineered its platforms to addict children, exploiting their vulnerabilities to keep them scrolling as long as possible. It further alleges that Meta downplayed those risks to parents and illegally collected data from children under 13 in violation of federal law.
In a press release about the case, Attorney General Coleman said, “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 and kids will be safer as a result.”
Meta has fought for years to keep this case from ever reaching a jury, according to Attorney General Coleman. The company has also poured significant dollars into defeating state legislation that would empower parents to protect their kids online, including opposing Kentucky’s own HB 227.
We are grateful for Attorney General Coleman’s leadership against a predatory social media industry, and for his support of our efforts to pass statewide protections for kids in Kentucky. Last session, his team advocated for Rep. Matt Lockett’s HB 227, a commonsense bill protecting Kentucky kids and parental rights on social media. Unfortunately, Senate leadership refused to act on HB 227, killing the bill in the final days of session despite a unanimous bipartisan vote in the House.
This lawsuit is a reminder of why Kentucky needs state-level protections for kids and parental rights on social media platforms. Meta and other big tech companies have shown they cannot be trusted: they profit by addicting kids, securing customers for life no matter the cost to those children, all while trying to keep parents in the dark.
The 29 states are seeking monetary penalties, but more importantly, a court order forcing Meta to change how its platforms treat children. The Family Foundation, for its part, will be working diligently during the 2027 General Assembly to make sure a bill similar to HB 227 passes, giving Kentucky parents the control they deserve over their children’s online activities.