A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, a major social media company that provides services such as Facebook and WhatsApp, to pay $567 million in damages. The company was found guilty of failing to provide adequate warnings to the public regarding child safety.
New Mexico District Judge Bryan Biedscheid said that Meta had become a "public nuisance" and was causing air pollution and its effects were damaging to society.
Therefore, it has also been ordered to establish a special fund to minimize future damages. Before this ruling, Meta had also been fined $375 million in the same case, bringing the total fine to $942 million.
In his ruling, the judge likened Meta to a factory, stating that its products are advertising and content, and that the psychological harm and sexual abuse inflicted on children should be considered the pollution emanating from that factory.
Meta has rejected the ruling and announced that it will appeal.
The company says it continues to work to protect users on its platforms and has been open about the challenges of identifying and removing harmful content and bad actors.
This is the largest financial fine ever imposed on Meta for child protection, and is considered the first time a social media company has been officially designated a "public nuisance" by a court.