ALBAWABA - Four states in the U.S. are suing Meta for $1.4 trillion - 93 percent of the company’s value - for allegedly purposefully designing its Facebook and Instagram platforms to addict young users.
The enormous figure was revealed by Meta during court filings as the trial is set to begin in August in California, which is one of the four states suing Meta, alongside Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey. Alleging that the tech giant violated consumer protection laws by designing addicting products for children and teens.
Meta, of course, denied the allegations, saying, "A sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement," adding that the $1.4 trillion penalty is "unsupported by the evidence."
According to court hearings revealed in June, the states calculated the fine by multiplying the number of alleged violations by fines allowed under state law based on the estimated number of children and teenagers affected.
U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will be overseeing the trial in August. In addition to the four states, 29 states are also suing for violations of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting children’s data without their parent’s consent.
Meta argues that “social media addiction” is not an established psychological diagnosis, emphasizing that they cannot be sued on that basis. Nevertheless, the company faces more trials after August as more states pursue similar cases against the company, with a separate trial scheduled for February.
Meta is not the only one facing the law’s ire as other social media companies, including Youtube and Tiktok, are facing lawsuits of their own; accused of intentionally designing their platforms to addict children and teenagers, contributing to widespread mental health problems.
Historically, New Mexico became the first state to successfully sue and win in court against Meta, winning $375 million after a jury verdict found the company guilty of misleading consumers. Now it seems each state of the United States wants a bite out of the tech giants.
