The Meta Store in Burlingame, Calif., Jan. 7, 2025. The Silicon Valley company Meta agreed to pay up to $17.1 billion in penalties as part of a landmark settlement with states over social media addiction claims. (Jason Henry/The New York Times)
Share
|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
SAN FRANCISCO — The headline figure for Meta on Wednesday was $17.1 billion in penalties.
That was the amount the Silicon Valley giant agreed it could pay as part of a settlement with 47 states, the District of Columbia and U.S. territories over claims that it endangered children with addictive social media platforms.
Meta will initially pay about $12 billion. It could pay up to $5.1 billion more if Snap, the owner of Snapchat, TikTok and YouTube, also settles with the states and agrees to financial penalties and product changes.
The sum is a large amount for many states. But how big a deal is it for Meta? Here are some numbers for context.
$1.45 trillion
Meta’s entire stock value stands at $1.45 trillion. The $17.1 billion penalty is about 1% of that.
$200 billion
The four states that brought social media addiction claims against Meta in a case that was in trial in the U.S. Northern District of California in Oakland had initially sought roughly $200 billion in penalties.
$60.8 billion
Meta’s revenue in its most recent quarter was $60.8 billion. Last year, the company reported a total of $200.97 billion in revenue.
$18.3 billion
Meta’s profit last quarter was $18.3 billion. For all of last year, profit was $60.46 billion.
$2 billion
This is how much Meta said it had spent in the second quarter to handle legal challenges.
—
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
By Emmy Martin/Jason Henry
c. 2026 The New York Times Company
