Overview
- Meta disclosed Monday that four states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in filings ahead of an August trial in Oakland.
- The August trial will hear federal COPPA claims from a 29-state suit plus the four states’ consumer-protection allegations after U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers refused to dismiss key claims.
- Prosecutors told a June court they calculated the figure by multiplying the number of alleged violations by statutory fines, using estimates of teens and young users affected, though those filings remain sealed.
- Meta says the $1.4 trillion figure is unsupported, denies it misled the public and argues that 'social media addiction' is not an established psychiatric diagnosis so alleged safety denials cannot be false.
- The fight builds on prior outcomes such as New Mexico’s $375 million verdict and could force product changes that would reduce engagement, lower ad revenue and carry broad business and regulatory consequences.