OAKLAND, Calif. – A New Mexico jury found the Meta willfully violated the state’s unfair practices laws, which resulted in child exploitation to the tune of more than a third of a billion dollars. 

What we know:

There are many employees inside social media companies working to make them safer, but insiders say market share and money override much of those efforts. 

The New Mexico judge read from the jury’s decision. “Did Meta violate the Unfair Practices Act by engaging in unconscionable trade practices act? The jury’s answer is yes,” said Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid, a New Mexico justice.

The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office proved its case to a civil jury that awarded $375 million in damages. Meta’s response through a spokesperson: “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal.”

Local perspective:

Larry Magid is a long-time Bay Area tech analyst, journalist, founder of ConnectSafely and a pioneer in online safety, especially for children. “I think that verdict indicates that there was convincing evidence, at least to that jury, that Meta did fail to fully protect children in ways that would guarantee that they would not be approached by predators.” 

Kaitlin Soule is a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist as well as an author. “I think it means that we’re entering a new era hopefully where the tech firms are gonna be held more accountable for creating safer spaces just like we would in public spaces,” said Soule.

The days of blaming parents are over. “What we’ve been feeling as parents and I can speak for myself as a parent of three, is like somehow, we’re doing bad parenting and we are getting it wrong when really the system was rigged in the first place,” said Soule.

What they’re saying:

Folks we met at the Larkspur Ferry Terminal said this, “I think especially with the rise of all the advertisements and just like trying to steal other people, like younger generations or data, and just like things to make you scroll and stay on longer and I do think that is a problem in our society like addicting,” said Clementine Glineur a young social media user. 

“I’ve seen a lot of mental health issues, especially compared in our generation compared to  a lot of other ones. And a lot of mental health ones, such as ADHD, which can really affect not being able to focus well,” said Brittanya Green, another young social media user.

Green says fines are in order. “Paying for it is definitely a start to help with the damages,” she said,

The jury surely believed it. “I think the jury system is the only way that we really get to participate in our government. It’s hands-on; you’re in the room, you’re talking to people who make decisions, you’re hearing evidence,” said Amanda Ebey of San Rafael.

Is the punishment significant? 

 But is it really a meaningful penalty?

“This particular financial judgment is not even a slap on the wrist. If a typical Bay Area family were fined this amount, it would basically be $300 out of their pocket, probably not even a traffic ticket,” said Magid.

But, with so many other states suing, an enormous liability bill would be damaging to both its reputation, share price and loss of freedom from regulation.  

“It’s best probably to have federal rules because they’re doing business in every state,” said Ebey.                                                                                                                                                                           

Magid said many people at Meta are working hard to make it safer, but the bad guys with new ways of being bad are winning the battle so far.