Court orders Instagram and Facebook's Meta to pay $567M to address kids' mental health online
- A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million for harms to young people from its platforms.
- $420 million of the payment will be allocated for treatment services for young people.
- This penalty is in addition to a previous $375 million civil penalty imposed in March.
- Meta plans to appeal the ruling, asserting its commitment to safety on its platforms.
- The court mandated Meta to improve age verification and implement protective features for young users.
A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address the mental health impacts on young people caused by its platforms. The ruling, made by Judge Bryan Biedscheid, allocates $420 million for treatment services, while the remainder will fund awareness, prevention, and screening services over the next five years.
This new penalty follows a previous ruling in March, where jurors imposed $375 million in civil penalties after determining that Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed information regarding child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The total financial responsibility for Meta now amounts to $942 million, which is considered a small fraction of its annual profit.
In response to the ruling, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez stated that it sends a clear message about corporate accountability regarding children's safety. Meta has indicated its intention to appeal the decision, maintaining that it works diligently to keep users safe and is transparent about the challenges it faces in monitoring harmful content. The court has also mandated Meta to implement changes to its platforms, including better age verification and protective features for young users.
法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元以改善儿童心理健康
新墨西哥州法院已命令Instagram和Facebook的母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元，以应对其平台对年轻人心理健康的影响。法官布莱恩·比德施海德的裁决中，4.2亿美元将用于治疗服务，其余部分将在未来五年内用于意识提升、预防和筛查服务。
这一新罚款是在三月份裁定Meta故意伤害儿童心理健康并隐瞒有关儿童性剥削信息后，陪审团判处的3.75亿美元民事罚款的基础上追加的。Meta目前的总财务责任达到9.42亿美元，这被认为是其年利润的一小部分。
对此裁决，新墨西哥州检察长劳尔·托雷斯表示，这向企业传达了一个明确的信息，即对儿童安全的企业责任。Meta已表示打算对此裁决提出上诉，坚称其努力确保用户安全，并对监控有害内容所面临的挑战保持透明。法院还要求Meta对其平台实施变更，包括改善年龄验证和为年轻用户提供保护措施。