Social media giant Meta ordered to pay $567 million in New Mexico child safety ruling

A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state's claims that the social media giant created a "public nuisance" and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay $375 million in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms. "We disagree with the ruling and will appeal," Meta told AFP in a statement Thursday. "We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content," the tech giant added. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta -- which makes Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp -- in 2023, alleging the company failed to protect children from online dangers. During closing arguments, prosecutor Linda Singer told jurors that Meta's algorithms had directed adults toward content posted by teenage users while the company concealed internal findings about the risks to young people. Read moreMeta ignored internal findings on Instagram's risks to teens, jury told in US trial Parental concerns In March, the j...