Meta was fined $567 million due to the safety of children on social networks

What was accused of Meta

The court upheld the lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres. The company has been accused of deliberately designing its platforms to keep children engaged and addicted to social media.

A separate complaint was insufficient prevention of sexual exploitation of underage users.

The decision follows a March jury verdict that already ordered Meta to pay $375 million for misleading users about the security of Facebook and Instagram.

What restrictions will be introduced

The court order is designed for five years and provides a number of new requirements for platforms.

In particular, Meta should set monthly limits on the use of Facebook and Instagram for teenagers, as well as reduce the number of push notifications.

The company should also strengthen the filtering of contacts between adult and minor users.

Limitations for AI chatbots

Separate rules will apply to Meta artificial intelligence. Children should be prohibited from having romantic or sexualized dialogues with AI chatbots.

In addition, the company was ordered to strengthen moderation and respond more quickly to complaints related to sexual abuse of children.

Meta will appeal the decision

The company has already announced that it plans to appeal the verdict.

Meta invoked the protection provided by Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act. However, the court rejected this argument, noting that the lawsuit does not relate to the publications of third-party users, but rather to the functionality of the platforms.