Meta ordered to pay $375M by New Mexico jury over child exploitation and user safety deception

A New Mexico jury found Meta violated state consumer protection law and ordered the company to pay $375M in civil penalties, ruling that Meta knowingly misled users about the safety of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp while enabling child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The verdict, reached after less than a day of deliberation following a six-week trial, marks the first time a jury has ruled on such claims against Meta, and came after a 2023 undercover investigation in which state attorneys created accounts posing as users under 14 and documented contact from adults seeking explicit material. A second phase of the trial is scheduled for May, where New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says he will seek court-ordered platform changes, additional financial penalties, and measures such as effective age verification, as Meta faces thousands of separate lawsuits nationally over alleged addictive design targeting young users.