A jury in the state of New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay 375 million dollars after determining that it facilitated child exploitation on platforms such as Facebook and Instagram and did not adequately protect minors.
The ruling, considered historic, concludes that the company allowed sexual predators to contact minors and that, furthermore, hid information about the real risks of its services, prioritizing user growth and interaction over child safety.
The investigation included an undercover operation in which fake profiles of minors were created who, in a short time, were contacted by adults with sexual content, which evidenced serious flaws in the protection systems.
The case originated from a lawsuit driven by the Attorney General's Office of New Mexico, which accused Meta of violating consumer protection legislation and of misleading users about the security of its platforms.
After the ruling became known, the company has announced that it will appeal the sentence, defending that it works to improve security on its networks, while the authorities consider that this decision could set a precedent in the legal responsibility of large tech companies.
