New Mexico Delivers Meta’s First Courtroom Defeat on Child Safety

Meta has suffered a significant legal setback on March 23, 2026, when a jury in Santa Fe, New Mexico, ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties for misleading consumers about the safety of Facebook and Instagram and endangering children. The verdict marks the first jury decision against Meta specifically addressing harm to young users and is being hailed as a “watershed moment” by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez.

The case stemmed from a 2023 undercover investigation in which state investigators created decoy accounts posing as children under 14. These accounts were repeatedly sent sexually explicit material and solicited for sex, leading to the arrest of several New Mexico men. Evidence presented at trial – including internal Meta documents and testimony from former employees – showed that company executives and child safety experts had repeatedly raised alarms about risks on the platforms, but those warnings were largely ignored.

Particularly damaging testimony came from Arturo Béjar, a former Meta engineering leader, who described how his own 14-year-old daughter received unwanted sexual advances on Instagram. He testified that the same algorithms powering targeted advertising were equally effective at connecting predators with children. Another former executive, Brian Boland, stated that when he left the company in 2020, he “absolutely did not believe that safety was a priority” for CEO Mark Zuckerberg and then-COO Sheryl Sandberg.

Meta said it plans to appeal, stating it “respectfully disagrees with the verdict” and that it “works hard to keep people safe.” The company faces additional legal pressure, including an ongoing trial in Los Angeles where it and YouTube are accused of creating addictive products that harmed young users. A second phase of the New Mexico case – a bench trial on public nuisance claims – begins May 4 and could result in further penalties and court-ordered changes