Jury reaches verdict in Meta child safety trial in New Mexico

A jury has delivered a verdict in a significant trial in New Mexico, where the state's attorney general accused Meta of failing to protect its suite of apps from child predators. The civil trial began on February 9 in a Santa Fe courthouse and focused on claims that Meta breached state consumer protection laws and misled the public regarding the safety of platforms like Facebook and Instagram. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez initiated the lawsuit against Meta in 2023 following an undercover operation that involved creating a fictitious social media profile of a 13-year-old girl. Torrez highlighted that the profile was bombarded with inappropriate content and solicitations from predators. After deliberating for several days, jurors were tasked with deciding whether to rule in favor of Meta. During closing arguments, attorney Linda Singer, representing the state, urged the jury to impose a civil penalty on Meta that could exceed $2 billion. Meta has consistently refuted the allegations, asserting its commitment to the safety of young users. The trial's second phase, which will take place without a jury later this summer, will see a judge assess whether Meta's actions constituted a public nuisance and whether the company should contribute to initiatives aimed at mitigating the alleged harms. This case is one of several social media-related trials occurring this year, drawing parallels to the tobacco lawsuits of the 1990s. Experts point to these cases as evidence of companies potentially misleading the public about the risks associated with their platforms. Simultaneously, a jury in Los Angeles has been deliberating in a separate personal injury case involving both Meta and Google's YouTube. This trial, which has been ongoing since last Friday, examines whether design features of the apps led to mental distress for a plaintiff, K.G.M., who claims to have developed an addiction to social media at a young age. The outcome of this case is being closely watched, as it could influence similar lawsuits in California under the Judicial Council Coordination Proceedings. Additionally, a federal trial is slated to start later this year in Northern California, involving multiple school districts and parents who claim that the operations of Meta, YouTube, TikTok, and Snap have caused detrimental mental health impacts on children and teenagers. This is an evolving story, and updates will follow.