New Mexico court imposed a fine on Meta

New Delhi: Meta has suffered a major setback. The company will have to pay a hefty penalty.  New Mexico court has imposed a fine on Meta. The court has directed Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to pay a penalty of 567 million US dollars (approximately ₹5,000 crore). The fine has been imposed over allegations of harming children’s mental health.

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, will now have to compensate young users for damages caused by its platforms by paying 567 million US dollars (around ₹5,000 crore). The court issued this directive during the second phase of a case in which Meta had already faced setbacks in March. The court cited the US law COPPA (Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act) as the basis for its decision.

The court stated that COPPA protects children’s privacy in the United States. Under this law, Meta is not permitted to collect personal data from children under the age of 13 or track their online activities without proper safeguards. In the ruling, Judge Brian Bidside said that a significant portion of this amount—about $420 million—will be spent on mental health services for young people. The remaining funds will be used over the next five years for awareness and prevention programs, screening services, and other related expenses.

In the first phase of the case, Meta had already been fined $375 million as a civil penalty. The court acknowledged that the company was aware that its platforms were harming children’s mental health. It was also found that the platform had concealed information related to child sexual abuse. The plaintiffs requested the court to mandate major changes to Meta’s platform, including stricter controls on addictive features, improved age verification, enhanced privacy settings, and stronger measures to prevent child sexual exploitation.

The court also noted that if only Meta is required to verify users’ ages while no such mandatory rules are imposed on other social media companies, it would be unfair and harmful to the company.