Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said in a court filing submitted Monday that four U.S. states are seeking $1.4 trillion in fines and damages, alleging the company designed its platforms to encourage addiction among teenagers and misled the public about their safety.
اضافة اعلان
The figure was disclosed in Meta's response to legal briefs filed by the state attorneys general regarding how penalties should be calculated if they prevail at a trial scheduled for August in Oakland, California.
The amount sought is close to Meta's current market value of approximately $1.5 trillion and has not been publicly disclosed until now.
Meta argued that the requested damages are unsupported by evidence and described the claims as unprecedented.
"There has never been a consumer protection penalty of this magnitude in the history of U.S. law," the company said in its court filing.
The attorneys general representing the states had not immediately commented following the filing.
Although the states' legal briefs remain sealed, their representatives said during a June hearing that the proposed penalties were calculated by multiplying the number of alleged violations by the maximum penalties allowed under each state's consumer protection laws.
According to the states, the number of violations is based on estimates of the number of teenagers and underage users allegedly affected by Meta's practices.
The current lawsuit involves the states of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey.
Thousands of Lawsuits Against Meta
Separately, 29 U.S. states have filed lawsuits against Meta in federal court, accusing the company of violating the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) by collecting children's personal data without obtaining proper parental consent.
The August trial before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will address both the federal privacy claims and allegations from the four states that Meta violated their consumer protection laws by misleading users about the safety of its platforms.
Meta denies all allegations, arguing that prosecutors have failed to prove the company deceived consumers about so-called "social media addiction."
The company also contends that social media addiction is not an officially recognized psychological disorder, meaning its previous statements denying that its platforms are addictive cannot be considered misleading.
Meanwhile, 14 additional states have filed separate lawsuits under their own state laws, with a separate trial scheduled for February.
Last month, Judge Gonzalez Rogers rejected Meta's request to dismiss the case, ruling that factual disputes including whether the company's platforms were intentionally designed to be addictive, whether Meta concealed those risks from users, and whether children were deliberately targeted in the platforms' design must be resolved at trial.
Following the ruling, California Attorney General Rob Bonta accused Meta of prioritizing profits over children's safety and vowed to hold the company fully accountable for its alleged role in the youth mental health crisis.
Other Tech Companies Also Facing Similar Lawsuits
Meta is not alone, Snap (owner of Snapchat), Alphabet (owner of YouTube), and ByteDance (owner of TikTok) are also facing thousands of lawsuits in federal and state courts, alleging they intentionally designed their platforms with features that encourage excessive use by children and teenagers, contributing to worsening mental health outcomes.
Several U.S. states have brought lawsuits against these companies as well, some within the broader federal litigation and others in state courts.
Earlier this year, New Mexico became the first state to take such a case to trial,
In March, a jury awarded the state $375 million, finding that the company had misled consumers.
A judge in New Mexico is still considering the second phase of that case, which seeks additional damages and a court order requiring changes to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.
