A panel in New Mexico last week indicted Meta for “knowingly” harming children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms. The verdict signals a changing tide against tech companies and the government’s determination to crack down such offence.
The verdict comes after a nearly seven-week trial, and as jurors in a federal court in California have been separated in deliberations for more than a week about whether Meta and YouTube should be liable in a similar case. The New Mexico jurors aligned with the argument of state prosecutors that Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, prioritised profits over safety, and violated parts of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
The jury agreed with allegations that Meta made false or misleading statements and also sided position that the company engaged in “unconscionable” trade practices that unfairly took advantage of the vulnerabilities of and inexperience of children. The panel found there were thousands of violations, each counting separately towards a penalty of $375 million (less than one-fifth of what prosecutors were seeking).
Meta is valued at about $1.5 trillion and the company’s stock was up five percent in early after-hours trading following the verdict, a signal that shareholders were shrugging off the news. A member of the jury, Linda Payton, said the panel reached a compromise on the estimated number of teenagers affected by Meta’s platforms while opting for the maximum penalty per violation.
With a maximum $5,000 penalty for each violation, Payton said she thought each child was worth the maximum amount. The social media conglomerate won’t be forced to change its practices right away. It will be under the jurisdiction of a judge to determine whether Meta’s social media platforms created a public nuisance and whether the company should pay for public programmes to address the harms.
The second phase of the trial will come up in May. A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the verdict and would go for an 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,” the spokesperson said.
Attorneys for Meta said the company discloses risks and makes efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences, while acknowledging that some bad material gets through its safety net. The New Mexico case was among the first to reach trial in a wave of litigation involving social media platforms and their impacts on children.
