In the second phase of New Mexico\u2019s big bucks social media lawsuit against META, a judge today slapped the Mark Zuckerberg created tech giant with a penalty in the hundreds of millions of dollars and also put some potentially big restrictions about the company can and cannot do when it comes to kids being on their platforms.<\/p>\n
\u201cAlthough Meta\u2026social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico\u2019s youth established by the substantial evidence in this case,\u201d\u00a0wrote Judge Bryan Biedscheid today ordering the company to payout $567 million to safeguard minors, hand over money to the state\u2019s mental health treatment programs and put a hard limit of 90 hours a month on individual use of social media platforms.<\/p>\n
Still, in typical Zuckeberg fashion, almost immediately after Judge Biedscheid ordered\u00a0Meta to pay to combat the consequences of Instagram and Facebook (WhatsApp got a pass), the company stridently denied there is a problem and vowed to take the whole thing back to court.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe disagree with the ruling and will appeal,\u201d a Meta spokesperson told Deadline of the nearly $600 million that is now added to the $375 million the tech-giant was ordered in March to fork over to the Land of Enchantment. \u201cWe 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. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.\u201d<\/p>\n
BTW, the $375 million sum from the spring is based off the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation for such mental health cases under New Mexico law. Now, in total, Meta is on paper paying out $942 million.<\/p>\n
While that sum won\u2019t prevent Zuckerberg from being able to pay his Visa bill, it could have devastating growth potential for Meta when one considers the recent L.A. action and thousands of similar suits across the country.<\/p>\n
Put in context, Meta has a market capitalization of around $1.50 trillion. That\u2019s a lot of dough, but not limitless \u2014 and state Attorneys General know it. Which is exactly the message New Mexico\u2019s Raul Torrez was sending today.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world\u2019s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence,\u201d\u00a0Torrez said after the latest ruling was filed. \u201cToday\u2019s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online.\u201d<\/p>\n
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