A court in the US state of New Mexico has ordered Meta to pay $375m for misleading users over the safety of its platforms for children.
A jury found that Meta – which owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp – was liable for the way in which its platforms endangered children and exposed them to sexually explicit material and contact with sexual predators.
A spokeswoman for Meta, led by chairman and chief executive Mark Zuckerberg, said the company disagrees with the verdict and intends to appeal.
This marks the first time that a state has successfully sued Meta over child safety issues.
And, there are more cases still to be resolved.
According to BBC News, Meta is involved in a separate trial in Los Angeles, in which a young woman claims that she became addicted to platforms like Instagram and YouTubeas a child because of how they are intentionally designed.
Youtube is owned by Google.
There are thousands of similar lawsuits are alsoi winding their way through the US courts.
