> A sanction of that size has no analog in the history of consumer protection enforcement

The Tobacco Master Settlement Agreement provided for "$206 billion over 25 years" starting in 1998 [1]. Inflation adjusted, those cash flows are about $313bn today.

"In 1998, 24.1% of adults were current smokers" [2]. Today, 50% of U.S. adults say they use Instagram, 71% Facebook [3]. Scale up the tobacco settlement to Instagram use and you get $626bn. Scale it up to Facebook and you get $922bn. Add them together and what do you know, we're well past $1.4 trillion.

Also, let's be clear, fining Meta $1.4 trillion doesn't disappear Facebook. It probably doesn't even mean it goes bankrupt. It means current shareholders, including Mark Zuckerberg, lose control. Hell, Meta's lawyers are making a better case for this litigation than the state AGs are.

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tobacco_Master_Settlement_Agre...

[2] https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm4939a1.htm

[3] https://www.pewresearch.org/internet/2025/11/20/americans-so...