U.S. tech company Meta said four U.S. states are asking it to pay a total of $1,4 trillion because it designed platforms to encourage addiction in children.
The four federal states of California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey sued Meta in United States of America, reports Reuters.
Those in court proceedings demand that the company Meta pay a fine of 1,4 billion US dollars. The company is accused of designing the platforms Facebook i Instagram so that they encourage addictive use among children and teenagers and because it has misled the public about the safety of minors.
Meta states that the amount of the fine is unreasonable and has no basis in the evidence. They also point out that such a fine would be unprecedented in the history of consumer protection, and that it is close to its market value, which is 1,5 billion dollars.
The company disputes the claims of “dependencies from social networks”, stating that this term is not an officially recognized psychiatric diagnosis.
The company’s trial is scheduled to begin in August in federal court in Oakland.
The trial will examine allegations that Meta violated consumer protection and child privacy laws, including allegations that it collected data from minors without proper parental consent.
Source: 021.rs, Vreme
