近距离内射合集

Jurors on Tuesday found digital media giant Meta culpable of failing to protect New Mexico teenagers on the company's platforms in a verdict that came less than a day after attorneys ended closing arguments in the six-week trial.

The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties for violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws. The jury found Meta liable for both claims brought by New Mexico under the state鈥檚 Unfair Practices Act.

State Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez filed the suit against Meta Platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2023, alleging the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp failed to protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking.

鈥淭he jury鈥檚 verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta鈥檚 choice to put profits over kids鈥� safety,鈥� Torrez said of the verdict. 鈥淢eta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.鈥�

Attorneys for New Mexico asked jurors on Monday to impose a penalty of more than $2 billion against Meta.

The next phase of New Mexico's legal action against Meta will be a May 4 bench trial before 1st Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid seeking additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta's platforms that offer stronger protections for children, Torrez said in a statement.

鈥淣ew Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold Meta accountable in court for misleading parents, enabling child exploitation, and harming kids," Torrez said.

Advocates hugged one another in celebration outside the courthouse in downtown Santa Fe after the verdict was announced.

One of the jurors, Lindsay Payton, said the trial showed Meta could do more to protect teenagers in New Mexico from online solicitation and sexual abuse.

"They're not out to do evil in that way 鈥� I don't think they're doing it on purpose 鈥� but they are aware of what's going on and they know the extent of it and they really need to fix it," Payton said.

Another juror, Molly Archuleta, said the jury grappled with whether Meta willfully and intentionally allowed harm to happen.

"To get 12 people to agree on what is grossly unfair was a struggle," said Archuleta, who works as a registered nurse. While Archuleta said she believes Meta proved they do care about children, she also said she believes justice was 鈥渉eavily served鈥� in the case.

The jury's final verdict was not unanimous, she said. Two of the 12 jurors dissented with the final decision but the 10-2 split was sufficient for the verdict to be handed down.

Jurors found 37,500 violations of state law, or 25% of New Mexico teenagers, based on U.S. Census Bureau figures, Archuleta said.

Jurors pared down New Mexico鈥檚 request for a $2 billion penalty based on an estimate of 221,000 teenage Facebook and Instagram users in the state.

Jurors affixed the penalty at $5,000 per violation, the maximum penalty allowed under the Unfair Practices Act. 

New Mexico鈥檚 legal action differs from thousands of other lawsuits filed against social media companies across the country by focusing on what the lawsuit argues is Meta鈥檚 failure to protect young people from sexual exploitation. In preparing the suit, investigators created fictitious Facebook and Instagram accounts, including those for boys and girls in their early teens, complete with photos.

One such account was promoted as being created by 鈥淚ssa Bee,鈥� a fictitious 13-year-old girl, which quickly garnered 5,000 friends and 6,700 followers, most of them males ages 18 to 40, who often sent her salacious messages and sexually explicit photos, the suit said.

Meta's attorney, Kevin Huff, said in closing arguments that investigators were "not trying to replicate a true teen experience like a real teen in New Mexico" when they created the Issa Bee account. "This is precisely why Meta doesn't allow fake accounts on its apps, because bad people can do bad things that might put people at risk," he told jurors.

Huff also argued Monday that New Mexico didn't meet its burden of showing that Meta violated state law by failing to disclose known risks of its platforms for young users.

"Meta constantly makes disclosures on many of the topics we've been discussing at this trial," Huff told jurors. "Meta isn't hiding anything about the risk of the platforms. It discloses them everywhere."

Olivier Uyttebrouck covers the court system. You can reach him at olivier@abqjournal.com.

Dan Boyd covers state government and politics for the Journal in Santa Fe. Follow him on X at @DanBoydNM or reach him via email at dboyd@abqjournal.com.