A New Mexico jury found Meta liable for child exploitation on its platforms. (NurPhoto via Getty Images)
A New Mexico jury found Meta liable Tuesday for misleading users about child safety on its platforms, ordering the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties. The verdict is the end result of a 2023 investigation by New Mexico’s Department of Justice. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez charged the company under the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” Torrez said in a statement following the verdict. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”
The figure of $375 million was reached by ordering Meta to pay the $5,000 maximum penalty allowed per violation of New Mexico’s consumer protection laws.
“We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to The Guardian. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
The case originally stemmed from an undercover investigation carried out by the New Mexico Attorney General’s Office in which investigators posed as underage children with decoy accounts on Facebook and Instagram. The decoy accounts were exposed to sexually explicit images and videos and propositioned by adult men who were later arrested in connection to the investigation.
Meta says it will appeal the ruling, according to The Guardian.
The verdict comes as the push for child safety measures and age-verification laws are gaining steam around the world. The U.S. Congress is currently advancing several kids online safety measures, while the UK’s Online Safety Act went into effect last year, requiring age verification across adult sites. However, in the UK, the law has drawn widespread criticism from privacy advocates and driven a surge in VPN use.
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