A consumer protection lawsuit against Meta led to a $25 billion fine on Oct. 21, 2026, when Meta was convicted of violating the state’s consumer protection laws over 43 million times. A jury in New Mexico found that Meta lied about how it handled hate speech and user data.
Another case against Meta ended with an out of court settlement Aug. 26, 2026, as the company agreed to pay 47 states $17 billion. The state plaintiffs alleged that FB and others designed their platforms to be addictive and that Facebook covered up harms to children. The original claim in California v Meta was for $200 billion.
These lawsuits were preceded by other social media personal injury cases. For example, in March 2025, a California jury found that Meta/FB and YouTube had harmed a young person by encouraging addictive behavior. The awards in that case totaled $6 million. Dozens more cases were waiting in the wings.
FB and others have argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act protects them from lawsuits such as these. However, courts have found that Section 230 protects against suits involving third-party content but not FB’s own conduct or product design. It was FB’s own deceptive statements and collection of data on children that were the subject of the lawsuits.
