On 24th March, a jury in New Mexico convicted social media giant Meta of negligence towards children by causing them to become vulnerable to predators and other harm on its websites and other sites.

This verdict was reached after approximately a day of discussions, and six weeks of trial, when the state suggested that Facebook and the parent company of Instagram failed to protect minors against sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking.

The state had demanded a maximum sum of damages of $2.2 billion, but the jury gave a lower sum of $375 million.

The trial of the case in a court in Santa Fe is one of the first in which social media sites and child safety were involved, yielding a jury decision.

“This ruling by the jury was a historic win to all children and families who have suffered the cost of Meta making profit without considering the safety of kids,” according to New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, who initiated the case.

He added, “Meta executives were aware that their products were harmful to children, ignored warnings by their own employees, and lied to the public about what they themselves knew.”

Meta said it would appeal against the decision.

A spokesperson of the company said that it “respectfully disagreed with the verdict and would appeal.”

The statement says, “it is our responsibility to make sure that people are safe on our platforms, and we have been explicit about the difficulty of detecting and eliminating bad actors or harmful content.”

The jury made its decision after hearing the testimony of 40 witnesses, including the employees who became whistle-blowers, and watching hundreds of documents, reports and emails.

Torrez sued Meta, the parent company of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2023 and claimed the company did not safeguard children against risks on the internet.

In closing arguments, prosecution lawyer Linda Singer informed jurors that the algorithms of social network Meta had guided adults to material made by teenage users when the company suppressed internal results on the danger to underage persons.

The jury ruled that Meta had breached the Unfair Practices Act in the state of deceiving consumers about the safety of its products for children.

The second part of the proceedings will start on May 4, when a judge will listen to the accusations of the state that Meta must be ordered to pay the extra penalties and make certain adjustments to its platforms and operations.

In California, another jury is deliberating on whether Meta and YouTube ought to be responsible for the damages done on their websites to children, including making them addicted.

The instance is viewed as a bellwether that might affect the result of thousands of the same cases against social media firms in the United States.