META faced two major legal setbacks this week as courts in New Mexico and California both found the company liable for harm to children. A New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading parents about child safety on Instagram and Facebook, with jurors finding the company violated consumer protection laws by claiming its platforms were safe while knowing they exposed children to danger.
In the Los Angeles case, jurors found Meta and Google liable in a landmark decision, with the settlement over a young woman known as Kaley, who accused both companies of getting her addicted to their products as a child, calling their platforms “addiction machines.” The New Mexico verdict came in a three-year lawsuit, while the LA case awarded $3 million in compensatory damages and $3 million in punitive damages.
Dozens of state attorneys general have since pursued similar claims, and more bellwether trials are expected as consolidation of over 2,400 cases continues in California. according to New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, these rulings mark a significant shift in scrutiny of how platforms are engineered to drive engagement.