By Anna DesmaraisAP
published
A court in the United States fined Meta $375 million (€317 million) after ruling that the platform knowingly harmed the mental health of children and withheld information about child sexual exploitation.
announcement
announcement
The jurors ruled in their verdict, published on Tuesday, that Meta had engaged in “irrational” business practices that unfairly took advantage of vulnerable and inexperienced children.
The judges also found that there were thousands of violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, a New Mexico law that protects consumers against unfair trade practices.
A Meta spokesman told The Associated Press that the company disagrees with the decision and will appeal. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing malicious actors or harmful content,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, and we are confident in our record of protecting teenagers online.”
Meta will not immediately change any of his actions. The second phase of the trial, where a judge will decide whether the meta platforms are a “public nuisance” and must pay for public programs to fix the damages, will happen in May.
What is the case about?
The case was first filed in 2023 by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres. Torres said an investigation by his department into meta-platforms found that they were “primary places for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sexual exploitation”.
The Attorney General’s Office conducted its investigation by hiding fake accounts as young as 14 years old.
It gathered evidence that the platforms directed young users to “a series of intense, sexually explicit images”, and recommended that children join informal Facebook groups to facilitate commercial sex.
The lawsuit also said Meta did not fully disclose or address the dangers of social media addiction. Meta has not agreed that social media addiction exists, but executives in the lawsuit acknowledged “problematic use” and said they want people to feel good about the time they spend on Meta’s platforms.
For this case, the judges examined internal literature and meta-reports on child safety.
They also heard testimony from Meta executives, platform engineers, whistleblowers, psychologists and safety consultants.
The jury asked whether social media users were misled by specific statements about platform safety from executives, including Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Instagram chief Adam Mosseri and Meta’s global head of safety Antigone Davis.
Jurors also considered Meta’s failure to enforce its ban on users under 13, its algorithm’s role in prioritizing sensitive or harmful content, and the spread of social media content about teen suicide.
Other cases against Meta
The New Mexico case was the first in a wave of cases to reach trial involving social media platforms and their effects on children.
More than 40 state attorneys have filed a lawsuit against Meta, alleging that it is contributing to a mental health crisis among young people by intentionally designing Instagram and Facebook features that are addictive.
Jury deliberations are also underway in California for a “bellwether trial” that will decide whether the Meta and Google platforms are harmful and addictive to children.
The lawsuit was filed by a 19-year-old woman, identified only as “KGM,” who claims that her use of Meta’s Instagram and Google YouTube at a young age led to severe depression and suicidal thoughts.
The lawsuit argues that the companies made deliberate design choices similar to techniques used in casinos to make their platforms more addictive to children in order to increase profits.
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