U.S. court says Meta Platforms is a public nuisance, orders $942 million in damages

[Financial News, New York = Reporter Lee Byung-chul] Meta Platforms, the operator of Facebook and Instagram, has been ordered by a U.S. court to pay a total of $942 million in damages after being accused of exposing children to harmful content and causing mental health harm. Beyond compensation, the court also ordered changes to Meta's recommendation algorithms and teen safety features, a ruling expected to have a significant impact on the broader social media industry.
A court in Santa Fe, New Mexico, ordered Meta Platforms to pay an additional $567 million on the 7th local time. Combined with the $375 million previously awarded by a jury in March, the total damages amount to $942 million.
Judge Brian Biedscheid ruled that Meta Platforms constituted a "public nuisance." The court found that the company violated New Mexico's unfair trade practices law by operating recommendation algorithms that steered teenagers toward harmful content, and said the service had a substantial impact on worsening teen mental health and increasing suicide rates.
The judge noted, "Just as pollutants from a factory harm society as a whole, the negative effects of Meta's platforms do not stop with individual users and instead shift the burden to families, schools, hospitals, and law enforcement."
In addition to the damages, the court ordered Meta Platforms to change its business practices. The company must strengthen teen protection features on Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp, and actively block accounts belonging to users under 13. It must also put safeguards in place to prevent minors from having romantic or sexual conversations with Meta's artificial intelligence (AI) chatbots.
About $420 million of the additional damages will be used for community- and family-centered treatment programs, while the rest will go toward projects aimed at preventing harmful behavior against teenagers.
Meta Platforms said it would immediately appeal. The company stated that it has continuously invested in user protection and has worked to remove harmful content. It added that it would continue to take legal action against claims that distort the facts.
The ruling marks Meta Platforms' second major loss this year. In March, a Los Angeles jury also found Meta Platforms and Google liable for damages, saying they designed social media platforms that increased children's addiction.



[email protected] Reporter Lee Byung-chul Reporter