Meta to appeal
Just minutes after the announcement of the decision, a Meta spokesperson indicated that the social media giant would appeal. “We are working hard to protect the users of our platforms and are transparent about the challenges posed by identifying and suspending malicious users and harmful content,” he added.
Prosecutor Raul Torrez had sued Meta in late 2023, accusing them of putting children at risk by exposing them to inappropriate content and sexual predators. “New Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold (social media operators) accountable for deceiving parents, allowing the exploitation of minors, and endangering children,” Raul Torrez said in a statement.
According to him, the amount awarded to the victims “should send a clear message to tech leaders,” “no company is above the law.” “This is a turning point for all parents concerned about what could happen to their children when they go online,” he concluded, “and this victory is theirs.”
It took the jury less than a day to reach a decision after six weeks of arguments. The two billion dollars requested by the prosecutor were calculated based on the number of monthly Facebook and Instagram users under the age of 18, totaling just over 200,000 people in New Mexico.
During her closing arguments on Monday, public prosecutor Linda Singer accused Meta of misleading communication about its measures to protect minors. She also criticized the Menlo Park group in California for encouraging minors to overuse its platforms while being aware of the effects this could have.
This argumentation is similar to the one presented in a simultaneous trial in Los Angeles, targeting Meta and Google, where the jury is set to continue deliberations on the ninth day on Wednesday.
New strategy
In the California case, a young woman is seeking redress from the two tech giants, accused of designing their apps in a way that young users spend as much time on them as possible. She claims that frequenting Instagram and YouTube, respective subsidiaries of Meta and Google, contributed to depression, anxiety, and self-image issues for her.
Until now, social media operators had escaped lawsuits thanks to Section 230 of US law, which exempts them from liability for user-generated content. In Santa Fe and Los Angeles, plaintiffs have adopted a new strategy, attacking the platform design rather than its content, and the lack of prevention regarding the risks involved, likening it to tactics successfully used against the tobacco industry.
The Los Angeles trial, like the one in New Mexico, is seen as an important test for the future of thousands of similar complaints in the United States. Before the judgment was handed down, a Meta spokesperson had stated, “The prosecutor did not make his case.”
“We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves and remain confident in our track record regarding the protection of teenagers online,” the spokesperson declared upon learning of the decision.
