Commitments and Contingencies | Commitments and Contingencies Guarantee In 2018, we established a multi-currency notional cash pool for certain of our entities with a third-party bank provider. Actual cash balances are not physically converted and are not commingled between participating legal entities. As part of the notional cash pool agreement, the bank extends overdraft credit to our participating entities as needed, provided that the overall notionally pooled balance of all accounts in the pool at the end of each day is at least zero. In the unlikely event of a default by our collective entities participating in the pool, any overdraft balances incurred would be guaranteed by Meta Platforms, Inc. Contractual Commitments We have $22.35 billion of non-cancelable contractual commitments as of September 30, 2022, which are primarily related to our investments in servers, network infrastructure, and consumer hardware products in Reality Labs. The following is a schedule, by years, of non-cancelable contractual commitments as of September 30, 2022 (in millions): The remainder of 2022 $ 7,200 2023 9,211 2024 1,922 2025 1,154 2026 295 Thereafter 2,565 Total $ 22,347 Additionally, as part of the normal course of business, we have entered into multi-year agreements to purchase renewable energy that do not specify a fixed or minimum volume commitment or to purchase certain server components that do not specify a fixed or minimum price commitment. We enter into these agreements in order to secure either volume or price. Using the projected market prices or expected volume consumption, the total estimated spend as of September 30, 2022 is approximately $8.64 billion, a majority of which is due beyond five years. The ultimate spend under these agreements may vary and will be based on prevailing market prices or actual volume purchased. Legal and Related Matters Beginning on March 20, 2018, multiple putative class actions and derivative actions were filed in state and federal courts in the United States and elsewhere against us and certain of our directors and officers alleging violations of securities laws, breach of fiduciary duties, and other causes of action in connection with our platform and user data practices as well as the misuse of certain data by a developer that shared such data with third parties in violation of our terms and policies, and seeking unspecified damages and injunctive relief. Beginning on July 27, 2018, two putative class actions were filed in federal court in the United States against us and certain of our directors and officers alleging violations of securities laws in connection with the disclosure of our earnings results for the second quarter of 2018 and seeking unspecified damages. These two actions subsequently were transferred and consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California with the putative securities class action described above relating to our platform and user data practices. On September 25, 2019, the district court granted our motion to dismiss the consolidated putative securities class action, with leave to amend. On November 15, 2019, a second amended complaint was filed in the consolidated putative securities class action. On August 7, 2020, the district court granted our motion to dismiss the second amended complaint, with leave to amend. On October 16, 2020, a third amended complaint was filed in the consolidated putative securities class action. On December 20, 2021, the district court granted our motion to dismiss the third amended complaint, with prejudice. On January 17, 2022, the plaintiffs filed a notice of appeal of the order dismissing their case, and the appeal is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. With respect to the multiple putative class actions filed against us beginning on March 20, 2018 alleging fraud and violations of consumer protection, privacy, and other laws in connection with the same matters, several of the cases brought on behalf of consumers in the United States were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. On September 9, 2019, the court granted, in part, and denied, in part, our motion to dismiss the consolidated putative consumer class action. On August 26, 2022, the parties reached a settlement in principle to resolve this matter, which is subject to court approval. In addition, our platform and user data practices, as well as the events surrounding the misuse of certain data by a developer, became the subject of U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC), state attorneys general, and other government inquiries in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions. We entered into a settlement and modified consent order to resolve the FTC inquiry, which took effect in April 2020. Among other matters, our settlement with the FTC required us to pay a penalty of $5.0 billion which was paid in April 2020 upon the effectiveness of the modified consent order. The state attorneys general inquiry and certain government inquiries in other jurisdictions remain ongoing. On July 16, 2021, a stockholder derivative action was filed in Delaware Chancery Court against certain of our directors and officers asserting breach of fiduciary duty and related claims relating to our historical platform and user data practices, as well as our settlement with the FTC. On July 20, 2021, other stockholders filed an amended derivative complaint in a related Delaware Chancery Court action, asserting breach of fiduciary duty and related claims against certain of our current and former directors and officers in connection with our historical platform and user data practices. On November 4, 2021, the lead plaintiffs filed a second amended and consolidated complaint in the stockholder derivative action. We believe the lawsuits described above are without merit, and we are vigorously defending them. We also notify the Irish Data Protection Commission (IDPC), our lead European Union privacy regulator under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), of certain other personal data breaches and privacy issues, and are subject to inquiries and investigations by the IDPC and other European regulators regarding various aspects of our regulatory compliance. For example, we are currently subject to an IDPC inquiry regarding Meta Platforms Ireland's ability to transfer European Union/European Economic Area Facebook user data to the United States, which is described further in "Legal Proceedings" contained in Part II, Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. The GDPR is still a relatively new law and draft decisions in investigations by the IDPC are subject to review by other European privacy regulators as part of the GDPR's consistency mechanism, which may lead to significant changes in the final outcome of such investigations. As a result, the interpretation and enforcement of the GDPR, as well as the imposition and amount of penalties for non-compliance, are subject to significant uncertainty. Although we are vigorously defending our regulatory compliance, we have accrued significant amounts for loss contingencies related to these inquiries and investigations in Europe, and we believe there is a reasonable possibility that additional accruals for losses related to these matters could be material in the aggregate. We are also subject to other government inquiries and investigations relating to our business activities and disclosure practices. For example, beginning in September 2021, we became subject to government investigations and requests relating to a former employee's allegations and release of internal company documents concerning, among other things, our algorithms, advertising and user metrics, and content enforcement practices, as well as misinformation and other undesirable activity on our platform, and user well-being. We have since received additional requests relating to these and other topics. Beginning on October 27, 2021, multiple putative class actions and derivative actions were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against us and certain of our directors and officers alleging violations of securities laws, breach of fiduciary duties, and other causes of action in connection with the same matters, and seeking unspecified damages. We believe these lawsuits are without merit, and we are vigorously defending them. On March 8, 2022, a putative class action was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California against us and certain of our directors and officers alleging violations of securities laws in connection with the disclosure of our earnings results for the fourth quarter of 2021 and seeking unspecified damages. We believe this lawsuit is without merit, and we are vigorously defending it. Beginning on August 15, 2018, multiple putative class actions were filed against us alleging that we inflated our estimates of the potential audience size for advertisements, resulting in artificially increased demand and higher prices. The cases were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California and seek unspecified damages and injunctive relief. In a series of rulings in 2019, 2021, and 2022, the court dismissed certain of the plaintiffs' claims, but permitted its fraud and unfair competition claims to proceed. On March 29, 2022, the court granted the plaintiffs' motion for class certification. On June 21, 2022, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit granted our petition for permission to appeal the district court's class certification order, and the district court subsequently stayed the case. We believe this lawsuit is without merit, and we are vigorously defending it. In addition, we are subject to litigation and other proceedings involving law enforcement and other regulatory agencies, including in particular in Brazil, Russia, and other countries in Europe, in order to ascertain the precise scope of our legal obligations to comply with the requests of those agencies, including our obligation to disclose user information in particular circumstances. A number of such instances have resulted in the assessment of fines and penalties against us. We believe we have multiple legal grounds to satisfy these requests or prevail against associated fines and penalties, and we intend to vigorously defend such fines and penalties. With respect to the cases, actions, and inquiries described above, we evaluate the associated developments on a regular basis and accrue a liability when we believe a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. In addition, we believe there is a reasonable possibility that we may incur a loss in some of these matters. With respect to the matters described above that do not include an estimate of the amount of loss or range of possible loss, such losses or range of possible losses either cannot be estimated or are not individually material, but we believe there is a reasonable possibility that they may be material in the aggregate. We are also party to various other legal proceedings, claims, and regulatory, tax or government inquiries and investigations that arise in the ordinary course of business. For example, we are subject to various litigation and government inquiries and investigations, formal or informal, by competition authorities in the United States, Europe, and other jurisdictions. Such investigations, inquiries, and lawsuits concern, among other things, our business practices in the areas of social networking or social media services, digital advertising, and/or mobile or online applications, as well as our acquisitions. For example, in June 2019 we were informed by the FTC that it had opened an antitrust investigation of our company. On December 9, 2020, the FTC filed a complaint against us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that we engaged in anticompetitive conduct and unfair methods of competition in violation of Section 5 of the Federal Trade Commission Act and Section 2 of the Sherman Act, including by acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 and by maintaining conditions on access to our platform. In addition, beginning in the third quarter of 2019, we became the subject of antitrust investigations by the U.S. Department of Justice and state attorneys general. On December 9, 2020, the attorneys general from 46 states, the territory of Guam, and the District of Columbia filed a complaint against us in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia alleging that we engaged in anticompetitive conduct in violation of Section 2 of the Sherman Act, including by acquiring Instagram in 2012 and WhatsApp in 2014 and by maintaining conditions on access to our platform. The complaint also alleged that we violated Section 7 of the Clayton Act by acquiring Instagram and WhatsApp. The complaints of the FTC and attorneys general both sought a permanent injunction against our company's alleged violations of the antitrust laws, and other equitable relief, including divestiture or reconstruction of Instagram and WhatsApp. On June 28, 2021, the court granted our motions to dismiss the complaints filed by the FTC and attorneys general, dismissing the FTC's complaint with leave to amend and dismissing the attorneys general's case without prejudice. On July 28, 2021, the attorneys general filed a notice of appeal of the order dismissing their case and that appeal is now pending before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit. On August 19, 2021, the FTC filed an amended complaint, and on October 4, 2021, we filed a motion to dismiss this amended complaint. On January 11, 2022, the court denied our motion to dismiss the FTC's amended complaint. Multiple putative class actions have also been filed in state and federal courts in the United States and in the United Kingdom against us alleging violations of antitrust laws and other causes of action in connection with these acquisitions and/or other alleged anticompetitive conduct, and seeking damages and injunctive relief. Several of the cases brought on behalf of certain advertisers and users in the United States were consolidated in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California. On January 14, 2022, the court granted, in part, and denied, in part, our motion to dismiss the consolidated actions. On March 1, 2022, a first amended consolidated complaint was filed in the putative class action brought on behalf of certain advertisers. We believe these lawsuits are without merit, and we are vigorously defending them. In addition, on July 27, 2022, the FTC filed a complaint against us in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of California seeking to preliminarily enjoin our proposed acquisition of Within Unlimited as an alleged violation of antitrust law. The FTC subsequently filed a related complaint in their administrative court seeking to permanently enjoin the transaction as a violation of Section 7 of the Clayton Act, and seeking other relief as well. Additionally, we are required to comply with various legal and regulatory obligations around the world. The requirements for complying with these obligations may be uncertain and subject to interpretation and enforcement by regulatory and other authorities, and any failure to comply with such obligations could eventually lead to asserted legal or regulatory action. With respect to these other legal proceedings, claims, regulatory, tax, or government inquiries and investigations, and other matters, asserted and unasserted, we evaluate the associated developments on a regular basis and accrue a liability when we believe a loss is probable and the amount can be reasonably estimated. In addition, we believe there is a reasonable possibility that we may incur a loss in some of these other matters. We believe that the amount of losses or any estimable range of possible losses with respect to these other matters will not, either individually or in the aggregate, have a material adverse effect on our business and condensed consolidated financial statements. The ultimate outcome of the legal and related matters described in this section, such as whether the likelihood of loss is remote, reasonably possible, or probable, or if and when the reasonably possible range of loss is estimable, is inherently uncertain. Therefore, if one or more of these matters were resolved against us for amounts in excess of management's estimates of loss, our results of operations and financial condition, including in a particular reporting period in which any such outcome becomes probable and estimable, could be materially adversely affected. For information regarding income tax contingencies, see Note 13 — Income Taxes. Indemnifications In the normal course of business, to facilitate transactions of services and products, we have agreed to indemnify certain parties with respect to certain matters. We have agreed to hold certain parties harmless against losses arising from a breach of representations or covenants, or out of intellectual property infringement or other claims made by third parties. These agreements may limit the time within which an indemnification claim can be made and the amount of the claim. In addition, we have entered into indemnification agreements with our officers, directors, and certain employees, and our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain similar indemnification obligations. It is not possible to determine the maximum potential amount under these indemnification agreements due to the limited history of prior indemnification claims and the unique facts and circumstances involved in each particular agreement. Historically, payments made by us under these agreements have not had a material impact on our condensed consolidated financial statements. In our opinion, as of September 30, 2022, there was not a reasonable possibility we had incurred a material loss with respect to indemnification of such parties. We have not recorded any liability for costs related to indemnification through September 30, 2022. |