Harm to children caused by social media: Meta must pay 942 million. And it faces thousands of lawsuits

Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, will have to pay $942 million and take concrete steps to protect children and limit the amount of time young people can spend on social media. This was ruled by a judge in New Mexico, in the United States, significantly increasing the damages awarded in a landmark ruling in March, when a jury found the company led by Mark Zuckerberg liable for endangering children and causing harm to younger users by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms: ‘In wilful violation of state consumer protection laws’.

According to the order issued by Judge Bryan Biedscheid of Santa Fe, Meta will be required to set up a new compensation fund of 567 million dollars, as well as paying 375 million dollars in fines, as previously agreed in March. The Californian tech giant will also have to implement certain safety measures: limiting the time underage users spend on Facebook and Instagram; hiding, by default, the number of ‘likes’ received by these users’ photos; and informing them of the risks associated with using social media. Meta has also been ordered to prohibit minors from engaging in ‘any romantic or sexualised interaction with artificial intelligence chatbots’.

The lawsuit brought by the Attorney General Raul Torrez accused Meta of exposing minors to sexually explicit content, grooming and human trafficking. In determining the penalty, Judge Biedscheid described the tech giant as a ‘source of public disturbance’: the ruling found that mental health issues amongst young people in New Mexico have worsened in recent years, citing research on the rise in cases of depression, eating disorders and increasing suicide rates amongst adolescents.

"The use of social media," the judge explained, "has contributed to these problems, including through features designed to maximise engagement among minors: ‘Meta is not the only company to implement these strategies, but its social media platforms,’ he stated, ‘contribute significantly to the current mental health crisis amongst young people in New Mexico, as demonstrated by the substantial evidence presented’. The judgement also highlights the need to establish rules for social media similar to those that exist in real life: “Just as harmful pollution produced by factories can infringe on people’s right to breathe reasonably clean air, so too do the harmful effects of Meta’s platforms on children extend beyond the platforms themselves. Social media apps create a common social burden and cause harm to the children affected, their families, schools, hospitals and law enforcement agencies.”

According to Judge Biedscheid, the creation of the fund, aimed at redressing the harm caused by social media apps, “is necessary, given the wide scope of the harm and the complexity of the harm itself”. A large part of the sum that Meta has been ordered to pay will be allocated to community and family support programmes, as well as to prevention initiatives.