A court in New Mexico has ordered Meta Platforms Inc. to pay $375 million after a jury found the firm misled users about the safety of its platforms for children.
The verdict held Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp liable for exposing young users to sexually explicit material and potential contact with sexual predators.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez described the ruling as “historic”, saying it marks the first successful state lawsuit against Meta over child safety concerns.
A spokeswoman for Meta, led by Chairman and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg, said the company disagrees with the verdict and plans to appeal.
She said, “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
Jurors found that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading the public about how safe its platforms were for younger users.
During the seven-week trial, the court examined internal company documents and heard testimony from former employees indicating that Meta had been aware of child predators operating on its platforms.
Arturo Béjar, a former engineering leader at Meta who left the company in 2021 and later became a whistleblower, told the court about experiments he conducted on Instagram showing that underage users were being served sexualised content.
He also testified that his own young daughter had been propositioned for sex by a stranger on Instagram.
Prosecutors presented internal research from Meta indicating that, at one point, 16 percent of Instagram users reported being shown unwanted nudity or sexual activity within a single week.
Meta argued in its defence that it has taken steps over the years to tackle harmful users and improve safety for minors on its platforms.
In 2024, Instagram introduced Teen Accounts, giving younger users greater control over their online experience. The company also rolled out a feature last month that alerts parents if their children search for self-harm-related content.
The total civil penalty of $375 million was calculated after the jury identified thousands of violations of the act, each carrying a maximum fine of $5,000.
Meta is also facing a separate trial in Los Angeles, where a young woman alleges she became addicted to platforms such as Instagram and Google-owned YouTube during her childhood due to their design.
Thousands of similar lawsuits are currently progressing through courts across the United States.
New Mexico filed the case against Meta in 2023, accusing the company of “steering” young users towards sexually explicit content, including material involving child sexual abuse and solicitation, as well as exposure to sex trafficking risks.
According to the lawsuit, these outcomes were driven by Meta’s recommendation algorithms, which automatically curate and suggest content to users.
“Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew,” Torrez said.
“Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”
