Meta was found liable in the state of New Mexico on Tuesday for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and for endangering children. The New Mexico case has been closely watched as a harbinger of what the company could face nationwide as the country grapples with the impact that social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram has on the health of kids.
The jury in the case has ordered Meta to pay $5,000 per violation, the maximum allowed under state law, which amounts to roughly $375 million in civil penalties. An attorney for New Mexico had asked for the jury to impose a civil penalty that would’ve exceeded $2 billion, according to the Associated Press.
New Mexico’s Attorney General Raúl Torrez first brought the case against Meta in 2023, arguing the social media company intentionally designs its platforms to addict young people and regularly exposes them to harmful content. New Mexico, which set up fake accounts posing as kids 14 and younger, presented evidence at trial that Meta failed to protect children from sexual abuse and the solicitation of sex online.
“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” Torrez said in a statement to Gizmodo. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”
Torrez went on to say that New Mexico was proud to be the first state to “hold Meta accountable in court for misleading parents, enabling child exploitation, and harming kids.” Torrez also said the state would be seeking additional financial penalties and wants to see court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms in order to protect kids.
“The substantial damages the jury ordered Meta to pay should send a clear message to big tech executives that no company is beyond the reach of the law,” said Torrez. “Policymakers and law enforcement officials across the country can help make this verdict a turning point in the fight for children’s safety. This is a watershed moment for every parent concerned about what could happen to their kids when they go online—and this victory belongs to them.”
A Meta spokesperson told Gizmodo the company disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content,” the spokesperson said in an email Tuesday. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
New Mexico’s other claims against Meta will be taken up in a bench trial starting May 4 and the state will be asking for the company to enact new age verification methods and remove predators from the platform. The state also wants to protect kids “from encrypted communications that shield bad actors,” according to a press release.
A similar child safety case, where Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg himself was forced to testify, is currently being heard in Los Angeles, California. The woman who brought that court case argues that she became addicted to Instagram as a child and it contributed to her mental health issues. Meta has argued that her mental health issues predate her exposure to Instagram. The judge admonished people who accompanied Zuckerberg into court for wearing Meta Ray-Bans because cameras were not allowed in the courtroom.
More than 2,000 individual cases against Meta involving child safety are currently pending in federal court, according to the Wall Street Journal. And dozens of other cases brought by state attorneys general are also in the pipeline following the historic loss suffered by Meta in New Mexico.
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