Meta fined $567m in largest child safety ruling against social media giant

[Binary_Bark]

A US judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay another $567m (£421m) for its failure to warn the public about dangers its platforms posed to children, marking the largest ruling against the company over child safety.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the social media giant is a "public nuisance" akin to air pollution and that it must put the money in a fund aimed at reducing future harms.

Thursday's ruling is in addition to $375m in fines Meta was already ordered to pay in the case, for a total of $942m.

Meta told to pay another $567m in New Mexico child safety lawsuit

The ruling is in addition to $375m in fines Meta was already ordered to pay in the case, for a total of $942m.

www.bbc.com

 

[EmmanuelGoldstein]

 

[PlanesTrainsAutomobiles]

Wonder if he allows his own kids to use the platforms.

 

[airborne]

Meta is scum, the more they get fined and reamed the better.

 

[Zellephant]

Who would have thought that a giant megacompany founded by a degenerate loser after illegally stealing information from college databases to rank girls' appearances would turn out to become a scourge to the world?

I mean, everything about the origin of Meta, and its founder basically told us this would happen.

Google's "evil" is a bit harder to swallow - especially considering what they claimed to stand for in their early days.

 

[Werner1975]

I agree that kids should be kept safe from seeing adult content on social media but this can't be up to these companies alone to add protective measures. Parents should also play a bigger role in monitoring their kid's online activities.

 

[RaptorSA]

Their annual profit alone for 2025 was $60.458 billion.
This fine will likely just result in some lip service and a few internal emails, PR's and Ticket requests.

 

[PlanesTrainsAutomobiles]

I agree that kids should be kept safe from seeing adult content on social media but this can't be up to these companies alone to add protective measures. Parents should also play a bigger role in monitoring their kid's online activities.

The average adult should definitely educate themselves around this issue. Pretty sure teens know way more and run circles around their parents when it comes to this.

 

[thestaggy]

I agree that kids should be kept safe from seeing adult content on social media but this can't be up to these companies alone to add protective measures. Parents should also play a bigger role in monitoring their kid's online activities.

Digital babysitting. Parents turning to screens to placate and occupy their children.

I have seen this in practice with toddlers (3/4 year olds). Child is being a child - busy, noisy, bored, wants attention/interaction - but the parents are either overworked or just lazy/disinterested, so they put a tablet or cellphone in the kid's hands and leave them to it. Eventually the kid starts throwing tantrums because they want the screen and the instant gratification it provides and the parents concede, and so a destructive pattern begins.

 

[Binary_Bark]

US judge rules Meta hid evidence in Australian tycoon fake ad case​

SAN FRANCISCO - A federal judge in California ruled against Meta on Aug 10 for destroying evidence in a case brought by Australian billionaire Andrew Forrest over scam ads using his likeness without permission.

The mining tycoon has accused the social media giant of allowing ads using his image to promote bogus cryptocurrency investments, and said Meta actively modifies the ads it distributes and profits from them.

That behaviour makes them liable for the fraudulent content, Forrest’s lawyers said.

US judge rules Meta hid evidence in Australian tycoon fake ad case

Andrew Forrest said Meta allowed ads using his image to promote bogus cryptocurrency investments. Read more at straitstimes.com. Read more at straitstimes.com.

www.straitstimes.com

 

[Captain Slog]

Stupid people bring up stupid brats! Fine the trees for printed porn and other "harmful" content too!

 

[Zellephant]

Stupid people bring up stupid brats! Fine the trees for printed porn and other "harmful" content too!

There’s a big difference you seem to be missing. Printed pornography is something you need to go an specifically seek out. Hell, under normal circumstances even internet pornography isn’t something that will just find you, you need to be looking for it.

The harmful content on Facebook is delivered without anyone needing to go look for it - and that is exactly how they want it

 

[Captain Slog]

As I said: "Stupid people bring up stupid brats!"