A New Mexico jury has ruled that Facebook parent company Meta has consciously violated state child safety laws.
Following a seven-week trial, Meta was found guilty of engaging in “unfair and deceptive” and “unconscionable” practices by misleading users about the dangers of child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms.
In particular, jurors were presented with internal Meta documents showing that the tech giant was aware of child predators using its platforms and that children were being served sexualized content. State investigators also went undercover by creating fake teen accounts and received many inappropriate messages from adults. All the while, Meta did not take sufficient action to promote the dangers of sexual exploitation across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
In total, jurors found thousands of violations, and Meta has accordingly been ordered to pay a total penalty of US$375 million for them all. It’s a landmark case, as it marks the first time that a state has successfully sued Meta over child safety issues.
In addition to the New Mexico case, Meta and Google were just ordered to pay US$3 million to a woman in Los Angeles after she became addicted to their platforms as a child because of how they’re intentionally designed.
Notably, similar lawsuits against Meta and other social media giants are underway in Canada. Ontario school boards sued Meta, TikTok, and Snapchat in 2024, with a judge clearing the Toronto District School Board’s suit to proceed in March 2025.
Via: CNN
