Meta could be facing an existential crisis as four U.S. states seek a combined $1.4 trillion in penalties, based on allegations that the company intentionally designed its social media apps to be highly addictive to young users, and then misled the public about the safety of its platforms.
As reported by Reuters, Meta presented this estimate based on how penalties could be calculated if the four states in question — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — were to prevail at trial. Reuters added that this figure was not previously released, and said it’s close to Meta’s estimated market capitalization of about $1.5 trillion.
The legal push follows a March verdict, which found that social media platforms can be addictive and can have significant health impacts. In that trial, a Los Angeles jury awarded Meta and YouTube a combined $6 million in damages, paid to a single defendant who had suffered harm as a result of social media addiction.
That ruling has opened up Meta and other social platforms to new legal liabilities.
Reuters reported that the states’ filings are sealed, but said that at a court hearing in June, state attorneys general indicated they would be calculating their projected penalties by multiplying the number of violations by fine amounts set by state law.
As per Reuters: “The number of violations is based on the estimated number of teens and young users affected by Meta’s actions, the states said.”
If those penalties are awarded in full, that could cripple the business. And with Meta also investing hundreds of billions of dollars into AI development, the combined impact of these penalties and Meta’s sunk costs could wipe out the company, or at the very least, derail its momentum on any future projects.
However, Meta is pushing to limit its exposure to litigation. The company is asking lawmakers to establish a carve-out that could shield it from the type of pending legislation that might increase legal penalties in child-harm cases.
Meta is also working to counter the basis of these claims. According to Reuters, the company said that the states’ attorneys general have no evidence that it misled consumers about its platforms' alleged addictiveness, since social media addiction is not yet an established psychiatric condition.
Meta may be able to argue that it has no case to answer, and avoid any further fines and penalties.
That said, other social media platforms are in the same boat. Snapchat, YouTube and TikTok are also facing a range of lawsuits related to similar claims.
The main impetus of all of these cases is that social media has fueled a mental health crisis. That means that the onus will likely be on the respective plaintiffs in each case to establish clear precedent for social media addiction as a mental health condition.
Given this, the outcome here is hard to predict. It seems unlikely that social media platforms are going to be sued into oblivion, or that the U.S. government would allow that, considering the significant contribution of social platforms to the U.S. economy.
The more likely result is that social platforms will soon have to operate under more stringent conditions, with enhanced protections for young users. In addition, there may be more onus on parents to limit younger users’ screen time and exposure.
However, major fines could still be coming, and Meta, as well as other platforms, will be working hard to solidify their legal protections.
