Meta Fined Rp 6 Trillion in Child Exploitation Case

A jury in the US state of New Mexico ruled on Tuesday (24/3) that Meta Platforms is liable in a lawsuit related to child safety. The jury determined that the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed its knowledge of child sexual exploitation on its social media platforms.

Meta owns several social media platforms, including Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram, and Threads.

This significant ruling came after a trial lasting nearly seven weeks, filed in court by the state’s attorney general.

After deliberating for less than a day, the jury found Meta guilty of violating New Mexico’s consumer protection laws and ordered the tech company to pay a civil fine of $375 million (approximately Rp 6 trillion).

This is the first time a jury has ruled against Meta in a case involving child exploitation. Meanwhile, another jury in a federal court in California remains in sequestration and has been deliberating for more than a week to determine whether Meta and YouTube are also liable in a similar case.

What did the jury find regarding Meta’s practices?

The jurors agreed with the New Mexico state attorney that Meta made false or misleading statements about child safety on its platforms.

They also concluded that Meta engaged in unconscionable trade practices by unfairly exploiting the vulnerability and inexperience of children.

The jury found thousands of violations, each calculated as a basis for accumulation leading to a total fine of $375 million.

In a statement, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the ruling as a “historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s decision to put profits over child safety.”

“The size of the compensation ordered by the jury for Meta to pay must send a clear message to executives of major tech companies that no company is beyond the reach of the law,” he said.

How did Meta react to the jury’s decision?

A Meta spokesperson said the company disagrees with the New Mexico ruling and will appeal.

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are always open about the challenges in identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to vigorously defend ourselves and remain confident in our track record of protecting teenagers online.”

Will this fine have a major impact?

Although this ruling sets an important precedent, the $375 million fine is only a small portion of the $2.2 billion previously demanded by the prosecutor.

One juror, Linda Payton, said the jury reached a compromise on the estimated number of affected teenagers by Meta’s platforms but chose the maximum penalty per violation, which is $5,000.

Currently, Meta’s company value is estimated at around $1.5 trillion. The company’s shares even rose a few hours after the ruling, indicating that some shareholders are not significantly affected by the fine.

The second phase of the trial will begin in May, where the judge, not the jury, will determine whether Meta’s social media platforms must fund public programmes to address the harm’s impact.

Torrez said his office will ask the court to force Meta to make changes and impose additional financial sanctions in the second phase.

Meta also faces thousands of other lawsuits accusing the company, along with several other social media companies, of deliberately designing its products to make young people addicted, which is said to contribute to the national mental health crisis.

Some of those lawsuits demand compensation of up to tens of billions of dollars, according to Meta’s documents filed with financial regulators.

At the same time, several countries have implemented or are considering bans on social media use for children.