The jury found that Meta knowingly violated New Mexico law by misleading users about the safety of its products and engaging in unfair business practices. The company faces a $375 million fine for the violations, with a maximum fine of $5,000 per violation for 37,500 violations in the two cases. The jury decided against Meta on every count, although it refused to pay a fine as demanded by the state, which would have been closer to $2 billion.
This is a historic decision given just a day after the debate ended. New Mexico argued that Meta violated state law by misleading consumers and facilitating child predators on its platform. The state set up fake accounts on Facebook to attract suspected predators to the profiles of minors, and said it found they were inundated with requests and messages from adults. Meta vehemently denied the allegations and said the states’ investigation was flawed and that it has been truthful about the safety of its products.
Another verdict in Meta’s product safety case is expected soon in Los Angeles, where a jury has been deliberating for more than a week in a case that also targets Google’s YouTube. Many more cases are awaiting hearing. The New Mexico decision is a historic victory for a unique legal strategy adopted by Attorney General Raul Torrez, which focuses on the technology platform’s own design in an effort to overcome the protections of online content.
“New Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold Metra accountable in court for misleading parents, promoting child exploitation, and harming children,” Torrez said in a statement. “In the next phase of this legal proceeding, we will seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms that provide stronger protections for children.”
“We respectfully disagree with the decision and will appeal,” Meta spokesperson Francis Brennan said in a statement. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves, and we are confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
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