Meta To Pay Hundreds Of Millions In New Mexico For Harming Kids. More Lawsuits Are Pending

Meta has been ordered to pay an additional $567 million in a legal case where it was found that the company's products, such as Instagram and Facebook, hurt the mental health of children and enabled sexual predators.

In March, Meta was found to be a public nuisance in a case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, and the company was ordered to pay $375 million in penalties. The $567 million was the result of the second phase of the case, and most of the money will be used to set up an abatement fund meant to address the mental health issues in children the company has helped cause, CNBC reported.

In total, the judgment against Meta was $942 million.

"Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico's youth established by the substantial evidence in this case," Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote in the ruling on Thursday, according to CNBC.

Aside from the monetary penalties, the judge ordered Meta to implement a slew of safety measures, including monthly limits on teens' use of Facebook and Instagram, restrictions on notifications, tighter controls on adults contacting minors, safeguards for AI chatbots, and enhanced reviews of child sexual abuse reports, Fox Business reported.

Evidence presented at trial showed that Meta had intentionally designed its platforms to addict young people. New Mexico also presented evidence that Meta exposed children to potentially dangerous content related to eating disorders and self-harm.

Other evidence focused on Meta design features that New Mexico said enabled pedophiles and predators to engage in child sexual exploitation on the company's platforms.

"This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world's largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence," said Attorney General Raul Torrez. "Today's decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online."

Meta disputed the judgment and stated that the company planned to appeal.

"We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," a Meta spokesperson told Fox Business. "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts."

The judgment could lead other states also to pursue legal action against Meta, similar to the smoking lawsuits filed by state attorneys general around the country in the 1990s against big tobacco. In fact, Torrez told Fox Business that he viewed the New Mexico case as a "blueprint" for other states to follow.

Fox Business noted that 40 states and more than 1,300 school districts around the country have already filed similar nuisance lawsuits against social media companies.