Meet Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, the California judge taking on Meta

Key Points:

• Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers, newly appointed chief judge of the Northern District of California, is overseeing a high-profile trial led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta against Meta, accused of harming young users through addictive features and misleading practices.
• The trial, described as social media's "Big Tobacco moment," could significantly impact Meta's advertising business, which relies heavily on algorithms targeting young users and generates 98% of the company's revenue.
• Gonzalez Rogers has a notable history with major tech cases, including presiding over the Epic Games vs. Apple lawsuit and earlier antitrust challenges involving Apple, where she earned a reputation for a no-nonsense approach.
• Earlier this year, she presided over the Musk vs. Altman trial involving OpenAI, which ended without resolving the dispute due to a missed filing deadline, but highlighted her role in high-stakes tech litigation.
• The Meta trial is expected to last six to seven weeks and is part of a broader multidistrict litigation consolidating thousands of lawsuits against major social media platforms over alleged harms to children and teens.