Judge orders Meta pay nearly $1B in New Mexico online child safety lawsuit

A New Mexico judge issued a $567 million penalty against the social media giant in a Thursday ruling over the company’s failure to protect children using the platform. First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid previously levied a $375 million fine against Meta earlier this year, bringing the total penalties levied against the company to a whopping $942 million.

The penalties stemmed from a lawsuit brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, alleging that the Instagram and Facebook parent company endangered children by misleading users about the safety of its platforms. Torrez’s office argued that Meta prioritized profits over safety, despite internal documents and employee testimony clearly showing the company knew about the dangers posed to children.

Specifically, Meta’s attorneys argued that the company worked hard to protect the mental health of teens, and cited various company measures preventing online sexual abuse. Meta also built several tools to protect against sexual predators reaching teens, the company’s attorneys argued. A six-week trial ended in March when a state jury found the parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp violated state law and prioritized profits over safety. Torrez’s office cited New Mexico as the first state to win a trial against a major tech company for misleading consumers and harming kids.

Biedscheid’s order added the new $567 million abatement fund on top of the earlier verdict, with a majority of the new ruling earmarked for funding youth mental health services. Torrez’s office released a statement celebrating the new ruling on Thursday, characterizing the additional penalty as a landmark victory. This case centered on protecting children and standing up for families, making sure Big Tech can’t profit from harming young people, Torrez said.

Has Meta responded? Meta disagreed with the latest ruling and planned to appeal, according to a Thursday statement from company spokesman Andy Stone. Meta worked hard to keep users safe on its platforms and remained transparent about identifying bad actors and harmful content, he said. The company remained confident in its record protecting young users and planned to defend itself against claims that misrepresented facts, Stone added.