U.S. court orders Meta to pay $567 mln for harm to children’s mental health
The compensation will fund programs for young people affected by social media harms and measures to better protect minors on Facebook and Instagram.
A U.S. court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million over harm caused to the mental health of children and teenagers by Facebook and Instagram, BBC reports. The ruling stems from a case brought by the state of New Mexico.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid ordered that most of the money be directed toward programs helping young people who have suffered harm. The remainder will go toward training educators and healthcare professionals to address the harmful effects of social media on teenagers.
The judge also ordered Meta to introduce stricter safeguards for underage users. Among other measures, developers must hide like counts from children and stop sending push notifications at night.
“Just as factories pollute the environment and can thereby interfere with a person’s right to sufficiently clean air, the harm Meta’s platforms cause children does not remain confined to the platforms,” Judge Biedscheid said in explaining his ruling. “That harm spills onto the internet and – perhaps even more concerningly – into the real world.”
“Today’s ruling is a victory for every parent who has ever worried about what social media is doing to their children,” New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said, “and for every child who deserves to grow up in a safer online environment.”
Meta representatives said they disagreed with the ruling and announced plans to appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms,” the company said. “And we are open about the challenges we face in identifying and removing harmful content and bad actors.”
“We remain confident in our ability to keep teens safe online,” Meta added, “and we will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
New Mexico prosecutors filed the lawsuit against Meta in 2023. A jury found the company liable for violating the state’s unfair practices law, concluding that the social media platforms’ algorithms directed children toward harmful content.
As the UOJ reported, a U.S. court previously found that Meta and YouTube cause harm to mental health.
