Meta Hit With Another $567 Mn Penalty In New Mexico Child Safety Case

Meta has been ordered to pay another $567 million after a US judge found that the company failed to adequately protect children from harmful content and online exploitation, according to reports. The latest ruling takes the total penalty in the New Mexico case to $942 million, including an earlier $375 million fine.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid of New Mexico said Meta's platforms had become a "public nuisance" because of the risks they posed to children. The court compared the company's platforms to a factory, saying harmful psychological effects and child exploitation were the equivalent of pollution that must be addressed.

Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal. The company said it continues to invest in child safety and believes the decision misrepresents its efforts to protect young users online.

Court Says Meta Must Address Harm

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by the State of New Mexico in 2023, alleging that Meta exposed children to sexually explicit content and contact with sexual predators through its platforms.

During the first phase of the trial, the court found that Meta repeatedly violated the state's Unfair Practices Act by allowing its recommendation algorithms to steer young users toward harmful content and interactions.

In the latest ruling, the judge said the impact of Meta's platforms extended beyond individual users and had become a broader public health and safety issue. In the order, the judge wrote that Meta's platforms created a societal burden affecting children, families, schools, hospitals and law enforcement.

Fund for Child Safety, New Platform Restrictions

The court directed Meta to place the $567 million into a fund aimed at reducing future harms. Around $420 million will be used to support mental health treatment and behavioural programmes for children affected by social media harms.

The remaining money will help fund awareness programmes and training for teachers, healthcare professionals and others dealing with the impact of harmful online content.

The ruling also requires Meta to introduce stricter safeguards for users under 18. These include preventing adults from messaging minors, banning the sharing of nudity involving underage users, removing visible "like" counts for teenagers, limiting push notifications during night hours and school time, and introducing a monthly usage cap of 90 hours across Instagram and Facebook. Adults found engaging in child sexual exploitation would face a "one-strike" policy.

The New Mexico case is one of several legal challenges facing Meta. Next week, another major child privacy trial involving attorneys general from nearly three dozen US states is set to begin in California.