Meta faces $1.4 trillion penalties sought by four US states in youth safety trial

Meta "said in a court filing on Monday that four states were seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties," reports Reuters, "over accusations the company designed its Facebook and Instagram platforms to addict young users and misled the public about their safety." Meta put forward the figure in its response to the attorneys general's filings on how penalties should be calculated if the states prevailed at trial. The number, which has not previously been disclosed and is close to Meta's 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. Meta said the amount was unsupported by the evidence. "A sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement," the company said in the filing. "The plaintiffs' outlandish calculations have no basis in fact or law," the company said in a statement, adding that it would continue to defend itself against the states' demands. A spokesperson for California Attorney General Rob Bonta said in a statement the lawsuit "alleges Meta has prioritized profits over the safety of kids and fueled the mental health crisis we see impacting a generation of American children. The California Department of Justice looks forward to holding Meta fully accountable at trial in August...." Meta has denied the allegations, saying the attorneys general have no evidence it misled consumers about its platforms' alleged addictiveness because "social media addiction" is not an established psychiatric condition, and therefore statements that its platforms were not addictive could not be false... Last month, [U.S. District Judge] Rogers rejected Meta's 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 "partially" directed the platforms at children. "A further 14 states have brought claims under their own laws, which will be heard at a separate trial in February..." Thanks to Slashdot reader Sparkatron for sharing the article. Read more of this story at Slashdot.

Meta, Facebook’s parent company, could be on the hook for $1.4 trillion in penalties. The astronomical sum is the potential damage from an ongoing trial against the company over allegations from several US states that Meta designed its platform to be addictive to young users. California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey are leading the charge with the trial itself being held in Oakland, California in front of US District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers. The states' filings are kept under wraps for now, but a hearing that took place in June revealed some details. The $1.4 trillion is the...

Damages sought come close to the tech giant’s market capitalization of $1.5-trillion

The penalty demand, close to Meta's entire market value, comes before an August trial over claims Facebook and Instagram were built to addict minors

Meta has told a federal court that four US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties over claims it engineered Facebook and Instagram to hook young users, a figure the company put on the record in a filing on Monday. The sum, first reported by Reuters, sits uncomfortably close to Meta’s own market capitalisation of about […] This story continues at The Next Web