Meta has received the largest additional damages ruling in history from a U.S. court for failing to fulfill its child protection obligations.
The court determined that Meta's platforms exposed minors to harmful content and the risk of sexual crimes, classifying it as a "public nuisance."
According to the BBC on August 7, Judge Brian Biedscheid of the First Judicial District Court in New Mexico ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million (approximately 800 billion won). Combined with the previously recognized $375 million from the same case, the total amount Meta is liable for reaches $942 million (about 1.3 trillion won).
This represents the largest financial penalty imposed on Meta regarding child safety issues to date. The judge likened Meta to a factory, stating, "If advertising and content are products, the psychological harm and sexual exploitation experienced by children are social ills akin to factory pollutants."
He further noted, "The harm caused on Meta's platforms does not remain online but spreads into real society, placing a significant burden on children, families, schools, hospitals, and law enforcement agencies."
The court mandated that the funds provided by Meta be used to establish a special fund for prevention and treatment of harm. Of this, $420 million will be allocated for psychological therapy and behavioral health programs for affected children, while the remaining budget will be directed toward training and prevention programs for teachers and medical personnel.
This ruling is the second judgment in a lawsuit filed by New Mexico in 2023. At that time, prosecutors held Meta accountable for its recommendation algorithms that effectively connected teenage users to sexually explicit content and sexual offenders.
In the earlier ruling, it was determined that Meta repeatedly violated New Mexico's consumer protection laws, and this latest judgment recognized that such actions have reached the level of a "public nuisance" that jeopardizes the health and safety of society as a whole.
In addition to financial compensation, the court ordered significant improvements to how the platform operates. Meta is now prohibited from recommending accounts of users under 18 to adults and must block the ability for adults to send direct messages to minors.
Furthermore, the transmission and reception of explicit material by minors is banned, and a "one-strike policy" must be implemented, permanently banning adult users who are caught engaging in child sexual exploitation after just one incident.
Additionally, the display of "likes" for users under 18 will be removed, and push notifications must be suspended from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. the following day. During the school year, notifications must also be limited from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays, excluding weekends. A monthly usage limit of 90 hours (approximately 3 hours per day) across Instagram and Facebook is also mandated.
Meta has immediately pushed back against the ruling. The company stated in a release, "We disagree with the ruling and will appeal. We have continuously worked to ensure the safety of our platform and are confident in our achievements in protecting youth. We will continue to respond legally to claims that distort the facts."
Meta is currently facing thousands of lawsuits across the United States regarding child safety and privacy issues. Next week, another large-scale child privacy lawsuit initiated by attorneys general from over 30 states will begin in California.
* This article has been translated by AI.
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