A New Mexico court has mandated Meta Platforms Inc. to pay a substantial $375 million civil penalty following a groundbreaking verdict that found the social media giant liable for endangering young users on its platforms. The jury determined that Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp, systematically misled the public about platform safety while exposing minors to sexually explicit content and potential predators.
The seven-week trial revealed compelling evidence through internal company documents and testimony from former employees, demonstrating Meta’s awareness of predatory behavior targeting children. Particularly damning was the account of former engineering executive Arturo Béjar, who testified about experiments showing underage users being served sexualized content. Béjar shared the disturbing experience of his own daughter receiving sexual propositions from strangers on Instagram.
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez hailed the decision as “historic,” marking the first successful state lawsuit against Meta concerning child protection issues. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew,” Torrez stated following the verdict.
The penalty amount reflects thousands of violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act, with each infraction carrying a maximum $5,000 fine. Internal research presented during trial proceedings indicated that at one point, 16% of Instagram users reported encountering unwanted nudity or sexual activity within a single week.
Meta has announced its intention to appeal the decision, with a company spokesperson maintaining that they “work hard to keep people safe on our platforms” and remain “confident in our record of protecting teens online.” The company highlighted recent safety initiatives including Teen Accounts on Instagram and parental alert systems for self-harm content detection.
This case occurs alongside thousands of similar lawsuits progressing through US courts, including a separate trial in Los Angeles where a plaintiff claims addiction to intentionally designed social platforms during childhood.