‘Public nuisance’ Meta ordered to pay total of almost $1bn in landmark kids’ mental health case

Facebook owner Meta has been labelled a “public nuisance” as a US judge in New Mexico ordered the company to pay an extra US$567m for failing to address the harm caused to children on its platforms.

Mark Zuckerberg

Meta

The ruling imposed by Judge Bryan Biedscheid is in addition to a US$375m fine already imposed on the social media giant in an earlier phase of the same case, bringing Meta’s total liability to almost US$1bn.

The earlier trial, held in March, was the first to find Meta liable for acts committed on its platforms. That case heard allegations that the California-based technology company led by Mark Zuckerberg had prioritised profits and engagement over protecting young users.

New Mexico’s state attorneys also argued that sites such as Facebook and Instagram were being used by sex traffickers to groom minors, connect paedophiles and exchange child abuse imagery.

A jury eventually found that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its services. The court imposed the maximum penalty of US$375m.

In the second phase of the case, which began in May and concluded yesterday, Judge Biedscheid ordered Facebook and Instagram to clearly display information about their protection features and tools to address inappropriate comments.

He also said Meta should develop an age-prediction model for children under the age of 13 within the next two years. Rather than asking a user how old they are, this would look at behavioural signals, such as the types of accounts a user follows and the language they use in comments, to predict whether that user is likely under 13 years old.

Judge Biedscheid found Meta’s negative influence had reached the level of “public nuisance,” saying: “Just as noxious pollution produced by the factory can harm the common public right to reasonably clean air, the harmful effects of Meta’s platforms on children do not stay contained by its platforms.

“Instead, they migrate to the internet as a whole and, perhaps most concerning, to the real world and create a common, societal burden on and harm to the affected children and their families and schools, as well as hospitals and law enforcement.”

Most of the money New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay – US$420m – will be used to fund treatment services for young people in the state. The remainder will go towards awareness and prevention.

Meta will appeal both rulings, with a spokesperson stating: “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. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

New Mexico attorney general Raúl Torrez said: “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.

“The 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 faces further legal action in other US states, including an ongoing trial in Tennessee linked to eating disorders and depression, allegedly triggered by Instagram use. A trial in a federal court in California, meanwhile, is scheduled to get underway later this month.