Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp, has been ordered to pay $375m (£280m) in damages after it was found to have knowingly harmed children’s mental health.
In what was described by campaigners as a “watershed moment”, a court in New Mexico, USA, has found the company had concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms.
The verdict marks the first time a jury has ruled on such claims against Meta, as the tech giant faces a wave of lawsuits over how its platforms affect young people’s mental health.
The New Mexico case relied on an undercover investigation where agents created social media accounts posing as children to document sexual solicitations and Meta’s response.
Prosecutors claimed Meta proritised profits over safety and violated parts of the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
The jury at the seven-week trial in Santa Fe agreed with allegations that Meta made false or misleading statements and also agreed that Meta engaged in “unconscionable” trade practices that unfairly took advantage of the vulnerabilities of and inexperience of children.
A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the verdict and will appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content,” they said.
“We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
The company’s lawyers said it disclosed risks and made efforts to weed out harmful content and experiences, but acknowledged that some bad material got through.
More than 40 state attorney generals in the US have filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming the company is contributing to a mental health crisis among young people by deliberately designing Instagram and Facebook features that are addictive.
“Meta’s house of cards is beginning to fall,” said Sacha Haworth, executive director of watchdog group The Tech Oversight Project.
“For years, it’s been glaringly obvious that Meta has failed to stop sexual predators from turning online interactions into real world harm.”
The lawsuit, filed in 2023 by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, also claimed Meta had not fully disclosed or addressed the dangers of social media addiction.
The company has not agreed that social media addiction exists, but executives at the trial acknowledged “problematic use” and said they wanted people to feel good about the time they spend on Meta’s platforms.
“Evidence shows not only that Meta invests in safety because it’s the right thing to do but because it is good for business,” Meta’s lawyer Kevin Huff told jurors in closing arguments.
“Meta designs its apps to help people connect with friends and family, not to try to connect predators.”
ParentsSOS, a coalition of families who have lost children to harm caused by social media, called the verdict a “watershed moment”.
“We parents who have experienced the unimaginable – the death of a child because of social media harms – applaud this rare and momentous milestone in the years-long fight to hold Big Tech accountable for the dangers their products pose to our kids,” the group said in a statement.