COURTS
Meta to appeal New Mexico ruling holding social media giant liable for teen harm
While ruling falls well short of $1B figure requested by state, tech titan plans to challenge decision
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Meta plans to appeal a New Mexico judge's order requiring the company to pay $567 million to fund programs aimed at addressing harms linked to Facebook and Instagram, taking the case to the state Court of Appeals after a landmark public nuisance ruling.
A district court judge in Santa Fe on Thursday ordered Meta to pay the abatement costs after finding the company's social media platforms created a public nuisance.
In a statement issued to the Journal, a Meta spokesperson referenced some pillars of the company鈥檚 defense during New Mexico鈥檚 landmark lawsuit, which claimed the company鈥檚 platforms harmed users in the state, particularly teens.
鈥淲e work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,鈥� a Meta spokesperson stated. 鈥淲e remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.鈥�
First Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid鈥檚 decision concludes the second phase of a civil case New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez brought against Meta on Dec. 5, 2023.
This week鈥檚 ruling follows a jury verdict in March that fined Meta $375 million in civil penalties after finding the company violated the state鈥檚 Unfair Practices Act.
In the lawsuit鈥檚 bench trial phase this spring, Torrez asked Biedscheid to compel Meta to pay around $1 billion toward the $3.7 billion abatement plan, which will include law enforcement, mental health and education programs intended to protect kids from social media addiction and online predators.
In his decision, the Santa Fe judge borrowed an analogy from Meta trial attorneys to explain why his financial judgments fell well short of the billion-dollar figure the state sought and reduced the timeframe over which the money can be expended from 15 years to five years.
Meta鈥檚 attorneys had compared reasonable requests for relief to requiring a factory causing pollution to cease contamination rather than shutting the operation down.
While Meta鈥檚 attorneys threatened to do just that at trial 鈥� warning in April that the company could deactivate services for New Mexicans should the judge鈥檚 ruling prove too onerous 鈥� Biedscheid said his decision wasn鈥檛 intended to close the social media factory in New Mexico.
鈥淩ather, this decision seeks to address existing harms created by Meta鈥檚 platforms and to prevent future harm to children and future burdens on New Mexico, in general, that would otherwise be caused by Meta鈥檚 platforms,鈥� the judge wrote.
In his ruling, Biedscheid also concluded that some of the state鈥檚 requests to require Meta to overhaul its age-verification processes were 鈥渦nreasonable and would result in an unworkable barrier to the use of Meta鈥檚 platforms by those who have a right to do so.鈥�
For New Mexicans like Maralyn Beck, the executive director of the New Mexico Child First Network and a former foster parent, Biedscheid鈥檚 decision marks a significant win for parents trying to protect teens online.
鈥淎 generation of children has been growing up in a digital playground without safeguards or protections,鈥� Beck said. 鈥淭his is a good decision and I applaud the AG for working tirelessly to protect our children and ensure they grow up safe and healthy.鈥�
Meta鈥檚 intention to appeal may extend an already protracted courtroom saga that echoes other litigation brought against the company elsewhere in the U.S.
The social media pioneer last month also appealed a Los Angeles jury鈥檚 decision that found it liable for harming teenagers, who have long been believed to suffer outsized mental health drawbacks from social media platforms designed to keep users scrolling.
John Miller is the 近距离内射合集鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.
