A New Mexico jury on Tuesday held Meta Platforms accountable in a child safety lawsuit, finding the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed its awareness of child sexual exploitation on its social media services.
The nearly seven-week trial, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, concluded with jurors determining Meta violated the state consumer protection law and engaged in unconscionable trade practices that took advantage of young users’ vulnerability and inexperience. The jury assessed thousands of violations, resulting in $375 million in civil penalties (about €323 million).
This is the first time a jury has ruled against Meta on claims tied to child exploitation. Separately, a federal jury in California is still deliberating in a related case that examines whether Meta and YouTube are liable for harms connected to children’s social media use.
Jurors found that Meta made false or misleading statements about child safety on its platforms and that its conduct unfairly exploited young users. Torrez called the verdict a historic victory for families and said the penalties should send a clear message to tech executives about prioritizing profits over kids’ safety.
Meta said it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal. A company spokesperson said Meta works hard to keep people safe, acknowledged challenges in identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content, and affirmed the company will continue to defend itself while remaining confident in its record on protecting teens online.
Prosecutors had sought roughly $2.2 billion in penalties; the $375 million award is substantially lower. Juror Linda Payton said the panel compromised on the estimated number of teenagers affected while applying the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation. Meta’s market value is about $1.5 trillion, and its stock rose in the hours after the verdict.
A second phase of the case will begin in May, when a judge — rather than a jury — will consider whether Meta should be required to fund public programs to address harms and whether additional changes or penalties should be ordered. Torrez said his office will ask the court to force operational changes and seek further financial penalties during that phase.
Meta faces thousands of other lawsuits alleging that it and other social media companies intentionally designed products to be addictive to young people, contributing to a youth mental health crisis; some of those suits seek damages in the tens of billions, according to Meta’s regulatory filings. Meanwhile, several countries have adopted or are considering measures to restrict children’s access to social media platforms.