A jury in New Mexico on Tuesday found Technology company Meta is liable for harming children and misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and is ordering the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties for violating consumer protection laws.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez praised the outcome, saying:
New Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold Meta accountable in court for misleading parents, enabling child exploitation and harming children. Meta executives knew their products were harming children, ignored warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew.
The jury found Meta liable for claims brought by the State of New Mexico pursuant to the State of New Mexico Unfair Practices ActThese include, but are not limited to, enabling the sexual exploitation of children and providing false information about children’s online safety. The law prohibits misleading or unfair business practices such as false advertising or misleading statements about goods and services. Violators may be subject to a fine of up to $5,000 per violation.
The ruling follows an investigation into Meta Platforms launched in 2023 by the New Mexico Department of Justice (NMDOJ) for dishonesty and harmful design decisions that enabled child sexual abuse, online advertising, and other harms. Based on evidence from the NMDOJ, Meta’s design features enabled child abusers to sexually exploit children on its social media platforms.
Additionally, testimony from witnesses and experts showed that the tech company intentionally designed its platforms to increase engagement among young people and expose them to dangerous content related to self-harm, contrary to the company’s public commitments. Further evidence also revealed that Meta employees and third-party child safety experts repeatedly warned the company about these dangers, but the company prioritized financial gain over child safety.
Torrez called the decision a “historic victory” for children and their families, adding that the NMDOJ will seek additional fines in the next phase of the process and require Meta to change its platforms to improve child protection. Measures include effective age verification, removing criminals from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield malicious actors. A trial is scheduled for May 4 to decide the NMDOJ’s final lawsuit against Meta.
Meta has faced similar lawsuits related to consumer protection and child safety due to concerns about physical and mental harm from social media use. In 2024, Australian lawmakers banned social media use for children under 16. Additionally, four school boards in Canada have sued social media companies for disrupting students’ education and creating addictive products marketed to children.
New York state lawmakers have passed a law banning social media companies from using addictive recommendation algorithms for users under 18. In 2026, the first case involving tech companies’ liability for children’s social media addiction began on February 10 in California.
