A jury on Tuesday reached a verdict against Meta in a major New Mexico civil trial, saying it failed to safeguard children from child predators on its family of apps.
Meta must pay $375 million for violating New Mexico law in child exploitation case, jury ruled.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Meta in 2023, alleging that Meta violated state consumer protection laws and misled residents about the safety of apps like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
During the trial starting on February 9, New Mexico prosecutors have raised concerns about the safety of complex algorithms and accused Meta of prioritizing profits over safety.
“It’s clear that young people are spending too much time on Meta's products, they’ve lost control,” prosecution attorney Linda Singer told the jury in closing statements. “Meta knew that and it didn’t disclose it.”
Meta attorney Kevin Huff defended Meta by showing its investments in safety on its platforms.
“Meta has built innovative, automated tools to protect people,” he said. “Meta has 40,000 people working to make its apps as safe as possible."
However, he admitted that Meta's systems aren't perfect: "No one can, with billions of pieces of content every day, even the best system, cannot catch all of it.”
He complained that the company’s enforcement of minimum age limits is hamstrung by the federal government's restrictions on collecting young children’s data.
Other High-Profile Social Media Cases
Besides the New Mexico case, there are several other cases against the gigantic social media platforms ongoing.
In the Los Angeles Superior Court, a jury has been deliberating since last Friday in a case against Meta and Google’s YouTube in which they allegedly contributed to the mental distress of a plaintiff known as K.G.M., who alleged that she became addicted to social media apps when she was underage.
In a separate federal case in the Northern District of California, multiple school districts and parents nationwide claim that apps by Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap are harmful to the mental health of teenagers and children.
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