{"id":105054,"date":"2026-06-10T18:33:14","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:33:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105054"},"modified":"2026-06-10T18:33:14","modified_gmt":"2026-06-10T22:33:14","slug":"meta-loses-child-safety-case","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/?p=105054","title":{"rendered":"Meta Loses Child Safety Case"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Meta\"
Image Courtesy of Christiaan Colen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

A jury determined that \u201cMeta willfully violated New Mexico law by misleading users about the safety of its products and engaging in an unconscionable trade practice,\u201d according to The Verge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, the company was given the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation, 37,500 violations across two counts equals $375 million. This is less than a fifth of what prosecutors requested.<\/p>\n

The jury determined that the owners of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram prioritize profits over safety and violated parts of New Mexico\u2019s Unfair Practices Act.<\/p>\n

The landmark verdict was delivered one day after closing arguments.<\/p>\n

Evidence<\/h2>\n

New Mexico set up decoy Facebook accounts to lure suspected predators to profiles that appeared to belong to minors. The state said they were flooded with messages and requests from adults.<\/p>\n

Meta denied the allegations, saying the investigation was flawed and the company had been honest about the safety of its products.<\/p>\n

Meta Awaiting Another Verdict<\/h3>\n

A jury in Los Angeles has been deliberating for more than a week in a case that also involves YouTube.<\/p>\n

Several other cases are still awaiting trial. The win in New Mexico is historical with the unique legal strategy of Attorney General Ra\u00fal Torrez that focused on the design of the platform to overcome the defense that online content is protected.<\/p>\n

Torrez states: \u201cNew Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold Meta accountable in court for misleading parents, enabling child exploitation, and harming kids. In the next phase of this legal proceeding, we will seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta\u2019s platforms that offer stronger protections for children.\u201d<\/p>\n

The judge will determine if the social media platforms created a public nuisance and will be required to fund public programs to address the harm. The second phase of the trial begin in May.<\/p>\n

Meta Response<\/h4>\n

Spokesperson Francis Brennan says: \u201cWe respectfully disagree 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sources:<\/p>\n

NPR:\u00a0<\/strong>New Mexico jury says Meta harms children\u2019s mental health and safety, violating state law
\nGizmodo:\u00a0<\/strong>\u2018Watershed Moment\u2019: Meta Just Lost a Huge Court Case About Child Safety
\nThe Verge:\u00a0<\/strong>Meta misled users about its products\u2019 safety, jury decides<\/p>\n

Featured Image Courtesy of Christiaan Colen\u2019s Flickr Page \u2013 Creative Commons License<\/p>\n

\n

Discover more from Guardian Liberty Voice<\/h3>\n

Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Image Courtesy of Christiaan Colen A jury determined that \u201cMeta willfully violated New Mexico law by misleading users about the safety of its products and engaging in an unconscionable trade practice,\u201d according to The Verge. On Tuesday, March 24, 2026, the company was given the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation, 37,500 violations across two […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":105055,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105054"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=105054"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/105054\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/105055"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=105054"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=105054"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.adviews.info\/news\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=105054"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}