Court orders Instagram and Facebook's Meta to pay $567M to address kids' mental health online
- A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harm to young people from its platforms.
- $420 million of the payment will be allocated for treatment services for young people.
- The court previously ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta for knowingly harming children’s mental health.
- Meta is required to implement changes to improve age verification and prevent child sexual exploitation.
- The court mandated that Meta create a reporting portal in partnership with schools to flag users who may be under 13.
A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms. The ruling comes in the second phase of a landmark trial that Meta lost in March. Judge Bryan Biedcheid stated that the majority of the funds, totaling $420 million, will be allocated for treatment services for young people over the next five years.
In the first phase of the trial, jurors determined that Meta had knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its platforms, leading to a $375 million civil penalty. The second phase included requests for fundamental changes to Meta's operations, focusing on addictive features and better age verification practices.
The court's decision may result in significant changes to how Meta's platforms operate. Meta is required to implement informational screens to explain its protection features and best practices, and these changes will be subject to state review. Additionally, Meta must develop tools to improve age assurance and create a dedicated model to predict users' ages, particularly for those under 13.
法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元以应对儿童心理健康问题
新墨西哥州法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元，以应对其平台对年轻人造成的伤害。该裁决是在Meta于三月输掉的标志性审判的第二阶段作出的。法官布莱恩·比德希德表示，其中4.2亿美元将用于未来五年内年轻人的治疗服务。
在审判的第一阶段，陪审团裁定Meta明知其行为对儿童心理健康造成伤害，并隐瞒了有关儿童性剥削的信息，因此处以3.75亿美元的民事罚款。第二阶段的请求集中在对Meta运营的根本性改变，重点是减少上瘾特性和改善年龄验证措施。
该法院的裁决可能会导致Meta平台操作的重大变化。Meta被要求实施信息屏幕，以解释其保护特性和最佳实践，这些变化将接受州政府的审查。此外，Meta还必须开发工具以改善年龄确认，并创建专门的模型来预测用户的年龄，特别是针对未满13岁的用户。