{"text":[[{"start":9.36,"text":"Meta must pay an additional $567mn in compensation and increase the safety features on its apps to address the harm they cause to children, a New Mexico judge ordered on Thursday."}],[{"start":21.84,"text":"The extra fine from the judge in Santa Fe, who found the $1.5tn tech group to be a “public nuisance”, brings the total penalties in the case to $942mn, after a jury in March ordered it to pay $375mn."}],[{"start":37.04,"text":"The lawsuit, brought by New Mexico’s attorney-general in 2023, accused Meta of exposing children to sexually explicit content, solicitation and human trafficking."}],[{"start":48,"text":"It is one of two influential US court cases against the social media group that have come to a head this year. The cases could trigger a flood of similar suits against social media platforms, in a move that some have compared to the onslaught of those against Big Tobacco in the 1990s."}],[{"start":64.8,"text":"The court had earlier established that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by developing recommendation algorithms that steer young people towards harmful content."}],[{"start":75.48,"text":"Thursday’s order followed a request in May for the judge to determine if Meta had also violated the state’s public nuisance law. Meta said it disagreed with the latest ruling and would file an appeal."}],[{"start":86.64,"text":"“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,” a company spokesperson said. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”"}],[{"start":105.62,"text":"Judge Bryan Biedscheid’s ruling found that the youth mental health crisis in New Mexico has worsened in recent years, citing research that showed higher instances of depressive episodes, eating disorders and rising suicide rates among adolescents."}],[{"start":119.12,"text":"Problematic social media use has contributed to this, helped by features designed to maximise engagement, Biedscheid wrote, citing 2023 research by the US surgeon-general."}],[{"start":130.28,"text":"“Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico’s youth, established by the substantial evidence in this case,” he said."}],[{"start":142.16,"text":"“Just as noxious pollution produced by the factory can harm the common public right to reasonably clean air, the harmful effects of Meta’s platforms on children do not stay contained by its platforms.”"}],[{"start":153.68,"text":"The social media apps “create a common, societal burden on and harm to the affected children and their families and schools, as well as hospitals and law enforcement”, Biedscheid wrote."}],[{"start":166.2,"text":"About $420mn of the money Meta was ordered to pay on Thursday will be directed towards community and family-based treatment programmes, with further sums going to prevention efforts for the harmful behaviour cited in the case."}],[{"start":179.44,"text":"Beyond the additional damages, the ruling requires Meta to make a range of changes to its platforms, which include Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp."}],[{"start":188.52,"text":"Meta has been ordered to create or maintain a range of protection measures for teen users, to police whether under-13s are using accounts, and to prohibit minors from “any romantic or sexualised interactions with Meta’s artificial intelligence chatbots”."}],[{"start":203.4,"text":"New Mexico attorney-general Raúl Torrez welcomed the ruling. “This is not just a judgment against one company. It is a blueprint,” he said, noting that it marked the first time a court has held a social media giant liable for building products that endanger children and has ordered it to change its business model."}],[{"start":221.48,"text":"In March, a Los Angeles jury found Meta and Google liable for designing social media platforms that are tailored to be addictive to children, with the companies failing to warn users of the danger. That case was brought by an individual 20-year-old plaintiff."}],[{"start":236.2,"text":"The companies were ordered to pay a combined $6mn in damages to the plaintiff, who claimed that social media addiction during her childhood harmed her mental health. Meta and Google have both appealed against the decision."}],[{"start":253.48,"text":""}]],"url":"https://audio.ftcn.net.cn/album/a_1786088113_8327.mp3"}