Meta faces $1.4 trillion penalty demand in youth addiction lawsuit
Meta Platforms has revealed in a court filing that four U.S. states are seeking approximately $1.4 trillion in financial penalties in a lawsuit accusing the company of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users while misleading the public about the platforms’ safety.
The figure, disclosed in Meta’s response to the states’ proposed penalty calculations, is close to the company’s market value of about $1.5 trillion. The case is scheduled to go to trial in August in Oakland, California, involving claims brought by the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey.
Meta argued that the proposed penalty is excessive and unsupported by evidence, describing it as unprecedented in the history of consumer protection enforcement.
In a statement, the company said the states’ calculations lack both factual and legal merit and pledged to continue defending itself against the claims.
A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said the lawsuit alleges that Meta prioritised profits over children’s safety and contributed to a growing mental health crisis affecting young people. The office said it looks forward to presenting its case at trial.
Officials from Colorado and New Jersey declined to comment, while representatives from Kentucky did not immediately respond to requests for a statement.
Although the states’ detailed filings remain under seal, lawyers indicated during a court hearing in June that the proposed penalties were calculated by multiplying the number of alleged legal violations by fines permitted under state law. The number of violations is based on estimates of how many children and teenagers were affected.
The four-state lawsuit forms part of a broader legal challenge against Meta. In total, 29 states have accused the company of violating the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting children’s data without proper parental consent.
The August trial will address both the federal privacy claims and allegations from the four states that Meta violated consumer protection laws by misleading users about the safety and addictive nature of its platforms.
Meta has denied the allegations, arguing there is no evidence it deceived consumers. The company maintains that “social media addiction” is not a recognised psychiatric disorder and therefore rejects claims that it falsely described its platforms as non-addictive.
An additional 14 states have filed separate claims under their own consumer protection laws, with those cases scheduled to be heard in a separate trial next February.
Last month, U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected Meta’s request to dismiss the case, ruling that factual disputes remain over whether the company’s platforms were intentionally designed to be addictive, whether Meta misrepresented that issue, and whether it deliberately targeted children.
Meta is also facing thousands of similar lawsuits alongside other major technology companies, including Snap, Alphabet (owner of YouTube) and ByteDance (owner of TikTok), over allegations that they knowingly created addictive platform features that have harmed the mental health of children and teenagers.
Earlier this year, New Mexico became the first state to take such claims to trial, where a jury awarded the state $375 million after finding Meta had misled consumers. A judge is now considering additional claims seeking further damages and court-ordered changes to Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
Source: Reuters
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