A jury in New Mexico has found Meta guilty of misleading users about how safe its platforms are. According to a report by The Verge, the tech company has been ordered to pay $375 million for 37,500 violations. The verdict came just a day after final arguments were presented in court. The jury had initially leaned toward a much higher penalty of nearly $2 billion before settling on the lower figure.
What Did New Mexico Charge Meta With?
New Mexico argued that Meta did not do enough to protect its users, particularly minors. The state charged that Meta’s systems allowed child predators to operate with relative ease on its platforms.
To support this claim, the government ran an undercover operation using decoy accounts that posed as minors. These accounts received multiple unsolicited messages from adults, raising serious concerns about child safety on the platform.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the verdict a breakthrough moment. He said the government had succeeded in holding a major tech company accountable for misleading parents and failing to protect minors.
How Did Meta Respond To The Verdict?
Meta pushed back against the charges, saying the investigation was flawed and that the claims did not reflect the safety measures it already has in place. The company also pointed out that it has been open about the difficulties of moderating harmful content at the scale it operates.
Meta said it “respectfully disagrees” with the verdict and announced plans to appeal. Spokesperson Francis Brennan said the company remains committed to user safety and intends to invest in tools designed to remove harmful actors from its platforms.
New Mexico also noted that this case is not an isolated one. A separate trial is currently underway in Los Angeles involving Google over similar allegations, suggesting that scrutiny of major tech platforms and their safety practices is far from over.
