In a landmark ruling, a New Mexico state court jury found Meta liable for nearly $400 million in civil damages after concluding the Facebook and Instagram parent company failed to protect children on its platforms from sexual predators. The civil trial, which began with opening arguments in Santa Fe last month, centred on allegations that Meta violated state consumer protection laws and misled residents about the safety of apps like Facebook and Instagram. It is believed to be the first time a state has prevailed at trial against a major tech company over claims of child harm.
What was the exact verdict?
The jury, CNBC reports, found Meta liable on all counts, including for wilfully engaging in unfair, deceptive, and unconscionable trade practices, and ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages. The penalty, set at the maximum $5,000 per violation under New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, fell well short of the roughly $2.1 billion the state had sought, but the symbolic weight of the verdict far outstripped the dollar amount.
How it started: A fake 13-year-old
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta in 2023 following an undercover operation involving the creation of a fake social media profile of a 13-year-old girl, which he said was simply inundated with images and targeted solicitations from child abusers. The operation led to three arrests, and prosecutors also revealed internal Meta messages detailing how Zuckerberg's 2019 decision to enable end-to-end encryption on Facebook Messenger would impact the reporting of 7.5 million child sexual abuse material cases to law enforcement.
Attorney General Torrez did not hold back in his response to the verdict. "Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew," he said in a statement, calling it "a historic victory for every child and family."
Meta to appeal; more trials ahead
Meta said it "respectfully disagrees" with the verdict and will appeal. The case is one of multiple social media trials this year that experts have compared to the Big Tobacco suits of the 1990s. A second phase of the New Mexico trial, conducted without a jury, is set to commence on May 4, when a judge will determine whether Meta created a public nuisance and should fund public programmes to address the alleged harms.
