Meta has disclosed that it could face penalties of up to $1.4 trillion (about £1 trillion) in lawsuits brought by four US states — California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey — over claims that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to be addictive and that the company misled the public about the apps' safety. The figure, revealed by Meta in a court filing at the states' request, is close to the company's entire $1.5 trillion market value, underlining the scale of the potential financial threat to Mark Zuckerberg's business. Meta argues the sum is unjustified, saying a sanction of that size has "no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement".

The states calculated the figure by estimating the number of young users affected and multiplying it by fines set under state law. Meta faces further legal pressure from 29 other states, most alleging breaches of the federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), with those claims and the four state suits due before US district judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers at a trial in August; a further 14 states will be heard in February 2027. Meta denies wrongdoing, disputing that "social media addiction" is an established psychiatric condition, though juries have already sided with states — including a $375 million award to New Mexico — and the company recently paid $27 million to settle a Kentucky school district case.