A jury in the US state of New Mexico has ordered Meta Platforms, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to pay $375 million after finding that the company violated state consumer protection law by misleading the public about the safety of its platforms and endangering children.
The verdict was returned on March 24 after a six-week trial in Santa Fe, with jurors imposing the maximum penalty of $5,000 for each of 75,000 violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, CNBC reported. The New Mexico Department of Justice said the outcome was the first trial victory by a US state against a major technology company over harm to young users.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said the verdict was “a historic victory for every child and family.” The state presented internal company documents and testimony from about 40 witnesses, including former Meta employees, educators, law enforcement officers and child safety specialists, Al Jazeera reported. Prosecutors argued that Meta’s design choices made it easier for predators to contact minors and exposed young users to content involving sexual exploitation, eating disorders and self-harm. The jury’s findings were limited to the consumer protection claims, and Meta denies the broader allegations.
The company said it will challenge the decision. “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal,” a Meta spokesperson said, adding that the company works to keep people safe and stands by its record of protecting teenagers online.
The financial penalty does not require Meta to redesign its services. A second phase of the case, heard without a jury by state District Judge Bryan Biedscheid, examined whether Meta’s platforms constitute a public nuisance in New Mexico. Testimony ended on May 21 and the judge’s ruling is pending. In filings submitted in June, the state asked the court to order Meta to pay $953 million toward programs addressing harm to children and teenagers, the Santa Fe New Mexican reported. New Mexico has also requested stronger age verification, limits on infinite scroll and autoplay for minors, blocked notifications during school and sleep hours, and a court-appointed child safety monitor. Meta calls the proposals unworkable and argues the state is entitled to little or nothing. None of the requested remedies has been ordered.
The case is part of a wider legal push in the United States. One day after the New Mexico verdict, a California jury found Meta and Google’s YouTube negligent in a separate case brought by a young woman who said she became addicted to the platforms as a child, awarding $6 million in total damages, ABC News reported. Attorneys general in more than 40 US states are pursuing related claims, The Associated Press reported.
The case has drawn particular attention from families and educators because it targets how platforms are designed rather than individual pieces of content. 3A1Z Stories, a US-based publication covering parenting and children’s digital safety, reported that the recommendation systems, notifications and default settings at issue shape how children use these apps far beyond New Mexico.
The next developments will come from two directions: Judge Biedscheid’s pending ruling on remedies and Meta’s appeal of the jury verdict, which is expected to take much longer. Together they will determine whether the case changes how social media platforms are built for children or ends as a financial penalty alone.
