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<\/div>\nMeta Platforms said in a court filing on July 6 that four states were seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties <\/span>over accusations the company designed its Facebook and Instagram platforms to addict young users and misled<\/span> the public about their safety.<\/p>\n Meta put forward the figure in its response to the attorneys general\u2019s filings on how penalties should be calculated if the states prevailed at trial<\/span>.<\/p>\n The number, which has not previously been disclosed and is close to Meta\u2019s market capitalization of around $1.5 trillion, comes ahead of an August trial in Oakland, California over the claims brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey against the company.<\/p>\n Meta said the amount was unsupported by the evidence.<\/p>\n \u201cA sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement,\u201d the company said in the filing.<\/p>\n Representatives for the attorneys general did not immediately respond to requests for comment after the filing.<\/p>\n Tallying Damages<\/strong><\/p>\n The states\u2019 filings are sealed, but at a court<\/span> hearing in June they said they were calculating the penalties by multiplying the number of violations by fine amounts set<\/span> by state law. The number of violations is based on the estimated number of teens and young users affected by Meta\u2019s actions, the states<\/span> said.<\/p>\n Twenty-nine states have sued Meta in federal court, most of them alleging the company violated the federal Children\u2019s Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data from children without proper parental consent. The trial in August before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers will address all claims brought under that law, plus the four states\u2019 allegations that the company violated their state laws protecting consumers by misleading them about the safety of their platforms.<\/p>\n Meta has denied the allegations, saying the attorneys general have no evidence it \u2060misled consumers about its platforms\u2019 alleged addictiveness because \u201csocial media addiction\u201d is not an established psychiatric condition, and therefore statements that its platforms were not addictive could not be false.<\/p>\n A further<\/span> 14 states have brought claims under their own laws, which will be heard at a separate trial in February.<\/p>\n Last month, Rogers rejected Meta\u2019s bid to cancel the trial, saying there remained factual disputes over whether its social media platforms were addictive, whether Meta falsely denied it designed them that way, and whether it \u201cpartially\u201d directed the platforms at children.<\/p>\n California Attorney General Rob Bonta said after Rogers\u2019 ruling that Meta was putting profits ahead of children\u2019s safety and breaking consumer protection laws, promising <\/span>to hold the company \u201cfully accountable\u201d for its role in the teen mental health crisis.<\/p>\n Meta, Snapchat and parent Snap Inc., YouTube and parent Alphabet Inc., and TikTok and parent ByteDance are facing thousands of lawsuits in both federal and state court over claims they knowingly designed their platforms to have features that addict children and teens, fueling a mental health crisis.<\/p>\n States across the country have sued the companies, some as part of the case before Rogers and others in their home state courts. New Mexico was the first to go to trial, and a jury awarded the state $375 million in March after finding the company had misled New Mexico consumers.<\/p>\n A judge in New Mexico is currently weighing the second portion of the state\u2019s case, which seeks additional damages and a court order directing the company to make changes to its Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp platforms.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n Was this article valuable?<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
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