Case guide
Check which Meta case a notice names and who it pays. A states’ case does not set what a family could get.
Updated Oct 4, 202611 sources
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Updated Oct 4, 202611 sources
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Kira E. Riehm · Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health · Lead author of the 2019 cohort study
Finding: The 2019 study linked more reported social media time with later reports of inward distress, alone or alongside behavior problems.
Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth (opens in a new tab) · Sep 11, 2019 · Checked Oct 3, 2026
California Department of Justice · Issuer of the August 2026 settlement announcement
Finding: The announcement describes a proposed agreement in the states’ case, with court approval still required in that announcement.
California DOJ: proposed Meta settlement, August 26, 2026 (opens in a new tab) · Aug 26, 2026 · Checked Oct 3, 2026
Department of Mental Health, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health · JAMA Psychiatry · 2019
Read the source: Associations Between Time Spent Using Social Media and Internalizing and Externalizing Problems Among US Youth (opens in a new tab) · Checked Oct 3, 2026
Office of the U.S. Surgeon General, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services · 2023
Read the source: Social Media and Youth Mental Health: The U.S. Surgeon General’s Advisory (opens in a new tab) · Checked Oct 3, 2026
The process
You answer a few questions
About two minutes. Nothing is sent until you agree on the last step and press submit.
A lawyer looks at it
A lawyer at the firm reads your answers and checks them against the current case criteria.
The firm decides and gets in touch
If the firm takes your case, you get the terms in writing to read before you sign. You can always say no.
The states’ action seeks relief from Meta under public laws. A family’s civil claim asks a court to address that family’s alleged harm.
The 2023 California announcement describes allegations about Instagram and Facebook and requests for monetary relief and orders changing conduct. Its public enforcement role differs from the private claim you might bring. Ask who the plaintiff is and which legal action a document concerns.
The August 2026 announcement described a proposed deal with Meta. It said a court still had to approve the deal.
It describes payments to states and changes to platform rules. The proposed document preserves Meta’s defenses in other individual and class cases. Do not treat the proposal as a court ruling that Meta caused your child’s illness. Ask for any later entered judgment before relying on its rules.
Keep a separate history for each account and app. Ask which alleged conduct and harm a lawyer can assess from those records.
The state announcement concerns both Facebook and Instagram. Write down when your child used each and which features or content concerned you. Keep facts about an account separate from general claims about the company. That makes the question about your child easier to explain.
Research can help explain a possible link between use and distress. It does not settle the cause of one child’s illness or the merits of a legal claim.
The youth study used reported time on social media and reported symptoms. It did not assign participants to use Meta’s products. Its limits include self-report and other possible causes. A child’s health evaluation should consider other stresses and past treatment.
Ask which firm would review the records and what it needs. Ask how it will handle private details before sending them.
Prepare a short timeline and a list of the records you have. Ask whether a civil claim, a report to an agency or another step fits the concern. Do not assume a company-wide agreement gives every family the same remedy.
Ask about your own firm’s fee terms before agreeing to help. Fee clauses in a states’ deal are not those terms.
Give the firm the notice you want checked and ask what the review includes. Ask who pays for account and health records and whether any costs remain due if the claim loses. Request written terms that identify your firm rather than relying on fee language in the state proposal.
Identify the case named in each notice and the dates it gives. Ask which dates apply to your own claim.
Keep state-action news separate from mail addressed to your family. Ask whether a notice requires a response from you and whether the firm has agreed to act. A legal time limit depends on the relevant claim and law, not the date of a Meta headline.
Teens spending 3+ hours daily on social media face double the risk of anxiety and depression symptoms
Rates of teen depression, anxiety, self-harm, and suicide increased sharply beginning in 2012 — coinciding with widespread smartphone and social media adoption
Habitual social media checking in early adolescence is associated with changes in brain sensitivity to social feedback over time
The review is free and private. Asking for it doesn’t commit you to anything.
Ask a law firm to review your caseThe Facebook Papers — internal Meta documents disclosed by whistleblower Frances Haugen in 2021 — revealed that Meta's own researchers found Instagram made body image issues worse for 32% of teen girls, that teens blamed Instagram for increases in anxiety and depression, that the Explore page served eating disorder content to users who hadn't sought it, that 13.5% of UK teen girls said Instagram made suicidal thoughts worse, and that Meta had over 1 million reports of users under 13 on the platform. Despite these findings, Meta suppressed the research, did not redesign the product, and accelerated development of Instagram Kids targeting children under 13. This evidence of actual knowledge and deliberate disregard is the foundation of the litigation.
Not from the MDL source alone. It identifies the case as a multidistrict litigation and summarizes plaintiffs' allegations that platforms were designed to maximize screen time and encourage addictive behavior. A lawyer can check current orders and defenses.
Source: N.D. Cal. Social Media MDL 3047 · as of Oct 7, 2026
State attorneys general sued Meta because lawsuits allege Meta designed and deployed harmful features on Instagram, Facebook, and other platforms that addict children and teens. The New York Attorney General says the federal lawsuit and related state cases brought the total attorneys general taking action to 42. Meta disputes liability in litigation.
Source: N.Y. Attorney General: Multistate Meta lawsuit · as of Oct 7, 2026
Checked against 11 primary sources by People's Justice editors · Updated
How we make moneyPeople's Justice research team · Updated Oct 4, 2026