Responding to a New Mexico judge’s ruling that Meta’s platform design harmed children, Amnesty International USA’s Deputy Director of Research, Justin Mazzola, said:
“This verdict is an important step towards creating safer social media for children and young people. For years, Amnesty International has warned that major social media platforms have been designed to maximize engagement and profit, while failing to adequately protect children’s rights.
“Crucially, the court went beyond imposing a financial penalty. By ordering changes to platform features, including removing “like” counts for people under 18 and restricting overnight notifications, the ruling recognizes that the harms children experience online are often the result of deliberate design choices.
“Amnesty has been calling for exactly this kind of action. Child safety must be built into platforms from the start, not added as an afterthought once harms are identified. This decision sends a clear message that social media companies cannot continue to prioritize engagement at the expense of children’s wellbeing and rights.”
Background
New Mexico Judge Bryan Biedscheid on Thursday ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harms caused to children’s mental health. Meta was also ordered to make changes to both the Instagram and Facebook platforms to make them safer for young users.
The ruling is in addition to a $375 million fine Meta was ordered to pay in the same case in March, when a jury found it had misled users about the safety of its platforms and enabled sexual exploitation of young people.
Earlier this year, Meta and Google, were found liable by a court in Los Angeles for a young woman’s social media addiction and ordered to pay $6 million in damages.
Meta has stated that they disagree with the ruling and will appeal the decision.
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