A New Mexico jury has found Meta liable for misleading users about the safety of its apps and enabling child sexual exploitation. The jury ordered the maximum civil penalty of $5,000 per violation, totaling $375 million. The case was brought by the state’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, following an undercover investigation conducted in 2023. His team set up accounts as users under 14 on Facebook and Instagram and reportedly received sexually explicit material from some adult users. In its complaint, the state accused Meta of purposely designing features like infinite scroll and auto-play for videos to keep kids hooked on the apps, leading them into depression, anxiety, and self-harm.The state also presented internal documents as evidence that Meta was aware of sexual exploitation issues on its platforms, and yet did not do enough to address them. The trial lasted six weeks, and on Monday, the jury found Meta liable for violating the state’s Unfair Practices Act and ordered civil pe...