Meta Faces $1.4 Trillion Lawsuit Over Alleged Harm to Youth on Facebook and Instagram

Meta is facing a historic $1.4 trillion lawsuit filed by four U.S. states, California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey, accusing the company of designing Facebook and Instagram to be addictive for young users and misleading the public about platform safety. The amount sought nearly matches Meta's market value of approximately $1.5 trillion. Meta disclosed this unprecedented figure in a court filing on Monday, responding to the states' calculations of potential penalties based on alleged violations of state consumer protection laws.

The lawsuit, set for trial in August in Oakland, California, claims Meta intentionally targeted minors with addictive features and misrepresented the safety of its platforms. Meta denies these allegations, arguing that the proposed penalty is unsupported by evidence and unprecedented in consumer protection enforcement history. The company also contests the claim that its platforms are addictive, noting that "social media addiction" is not a recognized psychiatric condition.

In addition to this suit, 29 other states have filed a federal lawsuit against Meta, mostly alleging violations of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data from children without proper parental consent. The August trial will address both the safety and privacy allegations.

Last month, Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers rejected Meta's request to dismiss the case, citing factual disputes over whether the platforms are addictive, whether Meta knowingly denied designing them to be so, and whether it targeted children. Meta, along with Alphabet (YouTube's parent), Snap (Snapchat's parent), and ByteDance (TikTok's parent), faces thousands of similar lawsuits alleging harmful design features that impact youth mental health.

Earlier this year, a New Mexico jury found Meta liable for misleading consumers and awarded $375 million in damages, with further rulings pending that could mandate changes to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg remains at the center of these legal challenges as the company confronts mounting regulatory and legal scrutiny over its social media platforms.