New Mexico Jury Orders Meta to Pay $375 Million in Child Safety Case

-Editorial 

A jury in New Mexico has found Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, liable for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and harming children, ordering the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties. The verdict, reached March 24, represents the first time a U.S. state has won a trial against a major technology company over alleged harm to minors.

The jury determined that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act, awarding the maximum penalty allowed under state law, $5,000 per violation. The decision resolves two claims brought by the state, following more than two years of litigation by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office, which began investigating Meta in 2023 for sexual abuse, online solicitation, and other risks to children using its platforms.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Meta, Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg, and the company’s subsidiaries, including Instagram LLC and Facebook Holdings LLC. Torrez said the investigation and trial evidence showed that Meta failed to address known risks to children, including warnings from employees and child safety experts. Internal documents and testimony from former employees, educators, and law enforcement officials were presented at trial, detailing design features that allegedly allowed sexual predators to contact minors and exposed young users to harmful content, including material related to self-harm and eating disorders.

As part of the investigation, the Attorney General’s Office created decoy accounts of children under 14 and documented instances where adults were able to solicit sexually explicit images, and where unmoderated groups promoted commercial sex. Investigators found that child sexual abuse material was present on Meta’s platforms at levels higher than other online sites known for adult content. The lawsuit also claimed that addictive platform design contributed to negative mental health outcomes for minors.

A bench trial is scheduled to begin May 4, during which the state will argue its public nuisance claim and seek court-ordered changes to Meta’s operations, including enhanced age verification, removal of predators, and restrictions on encrypted communications that can shield harmful behavior. The outcome could lead to additional financial penalties and modifications to the platforms to increase child safety.