US states demand $1.4 trillion in penalties from Meta ahead of youth safety trial

Meta is facing a $1.4 trillion penalty in a youth safety trial to occur in August as the four US states seek this massive amount over the accusations of addictive designs of Facebook and Instagram.

The tech giant has mentioned this figure in a court filing on Monday while understanding how penalties should be calculated if the states have an upper hand at trial.

The trial related to youth safety is set to take place in August in Oakland, California over the claims of addictive features of Meta platforms brought out by states including California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey.

The aforementioned disclosed penalty amount is quite close to Meta’s market value of $1.5 trillion, however, the parent company of Facebook rejected the amount stating it was not supported by evidence.

"A ​sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement," the company said in ⁠the filing.

Although states’ filings are sealed, they claimed to have calculated the fines “by multiplying the number of violations by fine amounts set by state law.” Speaking about the number of violations, they said it comes from the number of young users affected by Meta’s policies and designs.

Around 29 states have filed lawsuits against Meta over the accusations that the company breached the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act by collecting data from children without proper parental consent. Other four states alleged that it has also violated the state laws by misleading the users about the safety offered by the tech giant.

A further fourteen states have brought claims under their own laws, which will be heard at a separate trial in February.

However, Meta refuted all allegations related to addictiveness but in the upcoming August trial all these claims would be addressed.