A jury in Santa Fe ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties, finding the company misled consumers about platform safety and endangered children. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called it a landmark moment for concerned parents. The verdict, after a six-week trial, penalized Meta under the Unfair Practices Act, but more importantly, marked the first jury verdict against Meta for harm to young people.
Torrez stated, “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings, and lied to the public.” New Mexico’s case arose from a 2023 undercover investigation where investigators created decoy accounts on Facebook and Instagram, posing as users under 14 and were solicited by men who were arrested. Evidence from the investigation and internal documents showed Meta staff and child safety experts were ignored.
Testimony from former employees was damaging. Arturo Béjar testified about warning Meta executives after his 14-year-old daughter received unwanted advances on Instagram and highlighted the danger of Meta’s algorithms. Brian Boland, a former Meta vice president, testified that safety was not prioritized by CEO Mark Zuckerberg and former COO Sheryl Sandberg. Zuckerberg, deposed in the case, called research on platform addiction “inconclusive,” which the state disputed, citing Meta’s own research on feature design for dopamine responses.
Meta plans to appeal, disagreeing with the verdict, claiming effort to keep platforms safe. The case is one of many for Meta, including a trial in Los Angeles over claims of addictive platforms harming young users. A potential second verdict could come from a jury deliberating in a case brought by K.G.M., a woman alleging social media addiction since childhood and resulting mental health issues. A second phase of the New Mexico case, a bench trial on public nuisance claims, may impose more penalties and mandated changes, such as age verification and new protections for minors. The state argues Meta’s platforms broadly harm New Mexico residents’ health and safety.