A US court has fined the social-media giant Meta $567 million over allegations of failing to keep children safe. A New Mexico judge issued the order on Thursday.
It is the largest financial penalty against Meta to date on the issue of child safety. The company had earlier been fined $375 million in the same case, taking Meta’s total fine in the case to $942 million.
New Mexico judge Bryan Biedscheid described Meta as a company “harmful to public health.” He said the harm the company caused was much like air pollution, and that the money must be kept in a fund to be used to reduce harm to children in future. Meta’s platforms include Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads.
The judge compared Meta to a factory, saying Meta’s product was advertising and content, and that the mental harm and risk of sexual abuse to children was the pollution that needed to be controlled.
A Meta spokesperson disagreed with the ruling and said the company would appeal. The spokesperson said Meta worked regularly to keep users safe and was confident about its efforts to protect teenagers online.
Allegation of pushing children towards harmful content
The New Mexico case began in 2023. The state’s lawyers alleged that Meta’s platforms had put children at risk and created opportunities for exposure to sexual content and sexual offenders. In the first phase, the court found that Meta had repeatedly violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act. According to the court, Meta’s recommendation algorithm pushed young users towards harmful content and risky contact. Meta’s algorithm automatically selects what content users see.
In the second-phase ruling, the judge said Meta’s activities had created harm at the level of a “public nuisance” — a problem that spreads widely and negatively affects the health and safety of ordinary people. He wrote that, just as a factory’s toxic pollution harms ordinary people’s right to clean air, the harmful effects of Meta’s platform are not confined to the online world but also affect children, families, schools, hospitals and law-enforcement agencies.
Fine money to go to treatment and awareness
Under the court’s order, the fund Meta must set up will be used to reduce the harmful effects of social media on children. About $420 million of it will be spent on treating harm caused by Meta’s platforms, used for clinical and behavioural health programmes for children. Another part will be used for awareness and prevention training, particularly training teachers and health workers to tackle social-media-related harm to children.
New restrictions for child users
The court directed Meta to take several other measures, including: no user under 18 may be recommended to adults; ensuring no adult can message a minor user; stopping the sending or receiving of nude images by minors; and introducing a “one-strike ban” policy for adult users involved in child sexual abuse. It also directed rules for users under 18, including: stopping the display of “like” counts for them; turning off push notifications daily from 10pm to 7am; turning off notifications during the normal school year from 8am to 3pm (except on weekly holidays); and setting a monthly cap of 90 hours of use on Instagram and Facebook.
More cases against Meta
Thousands of cases over child safety and privacy are running against Meta in the United States. Alongside the New Mexico case, Meta also lost a similar case in Los Angeles this year. Another major trial against Meta is due to begin in California next week. Attorneys general of about 36 US states have brought allegations against the company of violating children’s privacy laws.
বাংলায় মূল প্রতিবেদন পড়ুন · Read the original Bengali report