Meta hit with $375M penalty over child exploitation claims in New Mexico trial

Mata was found liable to pay $375 million in civil penalties in a New Mexico child safety trial.

According to a New Mexico jury, the tech giant has been responsible for misleading consumers about the safety of its social media platform, propagating harmful and violent content and enabling harm against users, including child sexual exploitation.

This is the first bench trial in which Meta was ordered to pay a penalty for the acts committed on the platforms and violating New Mexico consumer protection law.

The lawsuit against Meta was filed by the state attorney general Raúl Torrez in December 2023. According to Torrez, Meta executives were well aware of the harm posed by their products. Unfortunately, they turned blind eye to the warnings issued by their own employees and safety experts.

“Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough,” Torrez said.

He added, “The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety.”

After a series of investigations against Meta, shocking revelations came to surface, demonstrating how Instagram and Facebook had become breeding grounds for child sex trafficking.

Meta’s response

In response to the verdict, Meta has announced to appeal the ruling and accused Torrez of making and disseminating “sensationalist, irrelevant arguments by cherry-picking select documents.”

According to Meta spokesperson, “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content.”

“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online,” he added.

Changes required

Torrez said, in a second phase of the trial in May he will ask the court to order Meta to make significant changes to its platforms, aiming to protect children.

The changes will include “enacting effective age verification, removing predators from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield bad actors.”

He is also seeking to impose additional financial penalties on Meta.

Soon after the verdict, Meta shares edged up 0.8 percent in after-hours trading, despite the state's unsuccessful push for a jury award exceeding $2 billion.