Jury Slams Meta with $375M Fine for Harming Kids on Social Platforms

A New Mexico jury found Tuesday that Meta's social media platforms harm children's mental health and ordered the company to pay $375 million in the first jury verdict in what is shaping up as a landmark year of child safety litigation against the tech industry.

The verdict came after a nearly seven-week trial brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who sued Meta in 2023. Prosecutors built their case by posing as minors on Meta platforms — which include Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — and documenting sexual solicitations they received, then tracking how the company responded. The jury found thousands of separate violations of New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, determining that Meta made false or misleading statements about child safety and engaged in what jurors called "unconscionable" trade practices that exploited the vulnerabilities of minors. The $375 million penalty, while significant, represents a fraction of Meta's $201 billion in revenue in 2025.

For families on the Treasure Coast, the verdict arrives as parents in Martin, St. Lucie and Indian River counties increasingly navigate concerns about their children's screen time and online safety. Florida's congressional delegation — including Rep. Brian Mast (R-Fla.), whose district covers Martin and St. Lucie counties — has engaged with federal efforts in recent sessions to impose age-verification requirements on social media platforms. Florida passed the Social Media Use by Minors law in 2024, and the New Mexico verdict could accelerate pressure on state and federal lawmakers to go further.

Meta said it disagrees with the verdict and will appeal. "We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online," the company said in a statement.

The New Mexico ruling is one of several major social media harms cases proceeding through courts this year. Jurors in Los Angeles still are deliberating in a separate bellwether trial focused on platform addiction claims against Meta and YouTube. A multidistrict litigation involving six school districts is scheduled for trial this summer before U.S. District Judge Yvonne Gonzalez Rogers in Oakland, California. Attorneys on the school districts' case have drawn explicit parallels to opioid litigation, arguing that tech companies, like pharmaceutical manufacturers before them, knew the risks their products posed and prioritized profits anyway.

Meta's appeal of the New Mexico verdict is expected to proceed through state courts, with no immediate implementation deadline confirmed.

This article was generated with AI assistance using publicly available information. It was reviewed and approved by a human editor before publication. TC Sentinel uses AI writing tools in accordance with FTC guidelines.