meta fined because of facebook and instagram are harmful to children
Meta Fined Rs 3500 Crore: Facebook-Instagram Are Harmful To Children : The historic ruling comes after a nearly seven-week trial. The ruling is seen as a major step toward holding tech companies accountable. Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, has prioritized profits over security.
A court in the US state of New Mexico has convicted social media company Meta on charges of harming the mental health of children and hiding sexually explicit content on its platform. The historic verdict comes after a trial that lasted nearly seven weeks. The verdict is seen as a major step towards holding tech companies accountable. Meta, which operates Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, prioritized profit over safety and violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act, a jury found. The company exploited children’s vulnerabilities and made misleading claims about the risks of the platform, the jury said.
The court, considering each violation separately, imposed a total fine of $375 million (Rs. 35,200 crore). The jury said that this amount was significantly less than the prosecution’s request. The court acknowledged that thousands of children were affected by Meta’s platform. Meta’s shares rose about 5% after the verdict, indicating that investors are not worried about the court’s verdict. The verdict only determines liability. It will depend on the judge whether Meta’s services are considered a public nuisance and whether the company will have to pay for child protection programs. This phase will begin in May. Meta announced that it will appeal the verdict. The company said that we are constantly working to improve security. Completely blocking harmful content is a challenge.
The New Mexico attorney general said the company’s platforms use algorithms to keep children engaged for longer, which increases the risk. Meta designed features that were addictive to young people and hid the risks involved. In this case, agencies used fake profiles created in the names of children that received sexually explicit messages. Meta’s response to such cases was found to be inadequate. More than 40 states in the US have previously filed lawsuits against Meta, claiming that the social media platform is seriously harming the mental health of young people. Many parent groups involved in social media have called the decision a historic ruling. They have called it a major step in the fight to protect children from online dangers.
