Meta fined $567m in biggest child safety ruling; total payout hits $942m

A US judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay an additional $567m (£421m) for failing to warn the public about dangers its platforms pose to children. The ruling, issued on Thursday, is the largest ever against the social media giant over child safety issues.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid found that Meta's operations amount to a 'public nuisance', comparing the company to a factory where advertising and content are the products, and 'the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children' constitute the pollution that must be abated. The judge directed the money to be placed in a fund aimed at reducing future harms.

The new fine comes on top of $375m that Meta was already ordered to pay in the same case, bringing the total to $942m. The earlier verdict, which Meta has said it intends to appeal, marked the first time a US state had successfully sued Meta over child safety issues.

The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit filed by attorneys for the State of New Mexico. The lawsuit argued that Meta should be held liable for how its platforms endangered children by exposing them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators. In the first phase of the trial, Meta was found to have repeatedly violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, as its recommendation algorithms essentially 'steered' young users toward harmful content and contacts.

In the second phase, Judge Biedscheid ruled that the harm caused by Meta's platforms extends beyond individual users. '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 and, instead, 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,' the judge wrote.

The ruling appears to be the first time a social media company has been declared a public nuisance. Meta, which owns and operates Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads, has been contacted by the BBC for comment. The company previously stated its intention to appeal the earlier $375m verdict.

This decision underscores growing legal and regulatory scrutiny of how social media platforms design their algorithms and the responsibility they bear for protecting younger users. The outcome in New Mexico could influence similar cases in other jurisdictions, though legal experts note that each case will be assessed on its own merits.