According to recent reports, the U.S. states of California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey have jointly filed a lawsuit against Meta, seeking penalties of up to $1.4 trillion.
This amount is nearly equivalent to Meta's total market capitalization of approximately $1.5 trillion, representing an astonishing scale of claims in the history of U.S. consumer protection litigation.
The case will be heard in the U.S. Federal Court in Oakland, California, with opening statements scheduled for August 18. The trial is expected to last six weeks, with an initial verdict anticipated by early October. Zuckerberg has been listed as a key witness by the prosecution and is required to appear in court for questioning.
The prosecution's core allegations focus on the protection of minors. The complaint argues that Meta was fully aware that features such as infinite scrolling, autoplay, and like notifications on Facebook and Instagram could lead to addiction among teenagers. Internal studies also confirmed that Instagram exacerbates body image anxiety and depression in many young girls. Despite this, Meta deliberately concealed these risks from the public, continued to retain these addictive product designs, and misled the public.
Furthermore, loopholes in the platform's age verification system have allowed numerous children under the age of 13 to register accounts, allegedly involving the illegal collection of minors' information in violation of child privacy protection regulations.
Meta has flatly denied the allegations, stating that the plaintiffs' calculation of fines lacks factual and legal basis. The company described the astronomical penalty as unprecedented in enforcement history and vowed to defend itself vigorously. Prior to this, Meta had lost several similar cases, accumulating nearly $1 billion in compensation.
A total of 29 states across the U.S. are participating in a series of lawsuits against social media platforms for harming teenagers. The outcome of this case could significantly impact the entire overseas social media industry, forcing platforms to modify their algorithms and features, and tighten product rules regarding minors.