Judge Brian Biedscheid orders Meta to pay $567 million, finds the company plays a “significant” role in the youth mental health crisis.

Design It For Us Co-Chair Nikki Iyer released the following statement:

“Judge Biedscheid’s ruling in New Mexico affirms what we as young people have known all along: Meta’s products have played a significant role in the youth mental health crisis. After a months-long, multiphase trial, a New Mexico court reviewed a mountain of evidence and concluded that Meta is a public nuisance to the state’s residents. For years, Meta has attempted to persuade the public that its measures to protect young people on its platforms are sufficient. But we know its protections are ineffective, and the company’s leadership evades accountability.

“With this major ruling in New Mexico, Meta will have to pay up to remedy the harms driven by its products for over a decade, including the exploitation and addiction of young people on Instagram. The order also requires Meta to, under the court’s supervision, design its products to actually be safe for young people. This ruling is a critical step in a years-long fight to hold Big Tech accountable. We hope that today’s ruling puts other Big Tech companies on notice that they are not above accountability, and that Big Tech’s era of exploitative design is coming to an end.”

In alignment with many of the principles of Design It For Us’ policy priorities, this ruling will require significant accountability measures of Meta, including: 

  • Defaulting age-uncertain accounts into the highest safety settings 
  • Preventing minor accounts from being recommended to adult strangers 
  • Banning accounts that engage in child exploitation 
  • Prohibiting its chatbots from sexualized interactions with minors
  • Disabling push notifications during the night and during school hours 
  • Hiding like counts by default 
  • Capping the hourly usage of the product per month

Background:

  • Design It For Us’ Scary Feeds: The Reality of Teen Accounts study was part of the research the Court used to assess Meta’s safety tools.
  • Design It For Us’ Director of Campaigns and Policy Zamaan Qureshi testified as the Plaintiff’s final witness in the first phase of the trial.

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About Design It For Us

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition leveraging grassroots power to disrupt Big Tech’s harmful business models. The coalition is led by a team of people between the ages of 18 and 26 and supported by an array of youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors fighting for a better online world for everyone.