First Federal Social Media Addiction Trial To Be Held in Oakland, California

Trial of claims brought by school districts will follow the first state court social media addiction lawsuit, which will go before a jury in January 2026.

The U.S. District Judge presiding over all youth social media addiction lawsuits filed in federal courts nationwide indicates that the first bellwether trial is likely to begin sometime in the summer of 2026 in Oakland, California, which will involve claims against major tech companies like Meta and Google.

As of November 3, 2025, Meta, Google and other social media companies face 2,172 social media lawsuits that are centralized as part of a federal multidistrict litigation (MDL) in the Northern District of California, where families across the country allege the platforms were deliberately designed to maximize user engagement through data-driven algorithms that foster compulsive use among children and teens, contributing to serious mental health problems.

While individual families are pursuing compensation for harms such as anxiety, depression and suicidal ideation, numerous school districts and state governments have also filed claims seeking reimbursement for the escalating costs associated with addressing what they describe as a youth mental health crisis fueled by social media addiction. These expenses include counseling programs, crisis intervention efforts and expanded special education services.

The federal MDL is overseen by U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, who has directed the parties to prepare a select group of school district cases for the first bellwether trials. Parallel proceedings are also underway in California state court, where Judge Carolyn Kuhl is presiding over a separate consolidation of similar claims.

In the federal MDL, Judge Rogers announced six different school district complaints were selected to be the first teen social media addiction lawsuits to go to trial in September. These federal “bellwether” trials will give the parties and the court a chance to see how juries respond to evidence and testimony likely to be repeated throughout the litigation.

Judge Rogers met with parties involved in the federal litigation during a case management conference on October 24, to address issues of logistics for the upcoming bellwether trials. In a case management order (PDF) issued on October 27, the Judge indicated that the court has decided the first trial will be held in Oakland, as opposed to the original choice of McKinleyville, California.

Noting that the court intends to begin the trials in the summer of 2026, the order indicates that the school districts are calling for back-to-back trials, and that states’ attorneys general have asked for one of their claims to be the second bellwether trial. However, the defendants have asked for more time between trials involving school districts and lawsuits brought by the state governments, saying the latter will not be ready in time.

The judge indicates she believes the attorneys general can “synthesize” all of the various state laws into one complaint that can be tried collectively. She indicated they should consider creating a chart to identify overlapping elements, and to determine if some claims should be bifurcated. The order indicates the court will continue the discussion at the next status conference, which is scheduled for November 19.

First Social Media Addiction Trial

The first actual social media addiction trial to go before a jury is planned to be held in California state court months before the first federal bellwether trial takes place, where a separate group of cases are consolidated before Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Carolyn Kuhl. The California state trial is scheduled to begin on January 27, 2026, involving claims by a plaintiff identified only as K.G.M.

These early trials will be closely watched to see the strength and weaknesses of arguments and evidence on both sides. The outcomes could help determine the size of social media addiction lawsuit payouts if a settlement agreement is reached.

If, after state and federal bellwether trials have concluded, the parties have not reached a settlement agreement or other resolution, Judge Rogers will begin remanding the cases back to their originating federal district for individual trial dates.

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