- Meta fined USD 567 million by New Mexico court.
- Ruling cites harm to children's mental health.
- Platforms disregarded safety, exposed youth to predators.
In a major setback, a US court in New Mexico on Thursday ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram to pay a massive USD 567 million (approximately Rs 5,390 crore) penalty. The ruling comes after findings revealed that the tech giant's platforms harmed children's mental health and routinely disregarded basic safety standards.
Why Has Been Meta Fined?
Judge Bryan Biedscheid said most of the money, around USD 420 million will now be used for the treatment of young people, while the rest will go towards awareness programmes and screening services over the next five years. Meta has been accused for its failure to warn the public about dangers its platforms posed to children. Judge Biedscheid found that the company's harms have reached the level of "public nuisance,” marking a significant ruling over child safety.
What's The Case?
The case stems from a 2023 lawsuit brought by attorneys for the State of New Mexico, arguing that Meta should be held liable for the way in which its platforms endangered children and exposed them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators. In the first phase of the trial, Meta was found to have repeatedly violated New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act and its recommendation algorithms essentially "steered" young users toward harmful content and contacts.
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This is the second ruling in less than six months in which judges have found Meta guilty of several consumer protection violations. In the first phase, USD 375 million fine was imposed on Meta and now the total fine stands at USD 942 million. In the second phase, government lawyers have urged the judge to mandate significant changes at Meta. The objective is to curb addictive features, improve age verification, and prevent the sexual exploitation of children through stricter oversight and default privacy settings.
Meta Responds To The Ruling
The ruling comes as Meta already faces thousands of lawsuits in the United States over similar issues. Reacting to the order, a spokesman for Meta stated they disagree with the ruling and will challenge the judgement. However, the company assured that it has been working to identify and remove harmful content from its platforms.
"We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts,” the spokesperson said as reported by the BBC.
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