Meta Ordered to Pay $375 Million for Misleading Users on Child Safety
A New Mexico court has fined Meta $375 million for misleading users about the safety of its platforms for children.
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading users about the safety of its platforms for children. The jury found that Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act by misrepresenting the safety of its platforms for young users.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez described the verdict as "historic," marking the first successful state lawsuit against Meta over child safety issues.
A Meta spokeswoman stated that the company disagrees with the verdict and intends to appeal, asserting that they work hard to keep people safe on their platforms and remain confident in their record of protecting teens online.
The jury determined that Meta's platforms endangered children by exposing them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators. The total civil penalty was calculated based on thousands of violations, each carrying a maximum penalty of $5,000.
This case is part of a broader legal landscape, with Meta facing numerous similar lawsuits across the United States. In a separate trial in Los Angeles, a young woman alleges that she became addicted to platforms like Instagram and YouTube as a child due to their intentional design.
New Mexico's lawsuit, filed in 2022, claimed that Meta "steered" young users toward sexually explicit content and exposed them to solicitation and sex trafficking through its recommendation algorithms.