Meta Platforms has revealed that four US states are seeking nearly $1.4 trillion in civil penalties in a high-profile lawsuit. The lawsuit claims that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to keep teenagers hooked. The company disclosed the figure in a court filing ahead of a trial scheduled for August.
The involved states are California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, which claim that the tech firm deliberately designed highly addictive apps without disclosing any harmful side effects of such products to both users and regulatory authorities.
Meta said in the court filing, “A sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement.” The company argued that the amount has no legal basis and is not supported by the evidence.
The states determined the amount of the proposed penalties by multiplying the alleged violations by the maximum possible fine allowed under their respective consumer protection laws. The total comes out to almost $1.4 trillion, which is around Meta's market value and makes it one of the largest civil penalty demands ever sought against a technology company.
The company has rejected the calculations as legally invalid and disproportionately high, given the claims. Meta has argued that there is no clinical definition of 'social media addiction,' and therefore, it cannot be said to be false that Facebook and Instagram are not addictive.
The trial in August will assess whether Meta violated the Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) and state consumer protection laws. The case is part of a broader lawsuit against Meta where 29 states accuse the tech giant of focusing on engagement rather than the welfare of minors.
Meta is currently under increasing legal fire when it comes to protecting minors. At the beginning of the year, a New Mexico jury awarded Meta a $375 million verdict related to another case regarding dangers to children posed by Meta’s platforms.
In light of increasing regulatory interest in social media platforms, the outcome of the August trial can have a profound impact on how technology companies design and regulate products used by children and teenagers.
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