US court orders Meta to pay millions to address harmful effects on kids
A court in New Mexico has ordered Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms – which he compared to a factory emiting poisonous pollution.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled Meta’s platforms were a “public nuisance” and that the company had engaged in an activity that “injures the public health, safety, and welfare” in the state.
“Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico’s youth,” the judge wrote.
Biedscheid likened Meta to a factory emitting pollution into the air.
“The Court considers Meta’s platforms to be analogous to the factory, the advertising and other content displayed on those platforms to be what is produced by the factory, and the psychological harm to and sexual exploitation of children to be the pollution that must be abated,” the ruling stated.
Just as “noxious pollution” from the factory harmed the public’s right to clean air, the “harmful effects” of Meta’s platforms were not contained, the ruling stated.
“Instead, [the harmful effects] migrate to the Internet as a whole and, perhaps most concerning, to the real world and create a common, societal burden on and harm to the affected children and their families and schools, as well as hospitals and law enforcement,” the ruling said.
Meta spokesman Andy Stone said the company disagreed with the ruling and would appeal.
“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,” he wrote on X.
The ruling said $420 million would go towards treatment services for young people, while the remainder would be put toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs.
The ruling is in addition to the $375 million Meta was ordered to pay in the case in March.
DPA
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