US Government & Domestic — 2026-03-26
Meta Ordered to Pay $375 Million for Exposing Children to Online Predators
A jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in damages for failing to protect children from predators on its platforms. The verdict is part of a broader wave of litigation against major tech companies, with a separate landmark social media trial against Meta and Google also concluding this week. A California court separately ordered Meta and Google to pay $6 million. These verdicts signal growing judicial willingness to hold tech platforms liable for user safety failures.
Analysis
Combined with the California $6M ruling the same week, the verdicts establish platform liability for user-generated content in a way thatSection 230 was designed to prevent. Cross-reference with the EU chat control vote: Europe is loosening content scanning requirements while US courts are tightening platform accountability; tech companies face contradictory mandates.
Combined with the California $6M ruling the same week, the verdicts establish platform liability for user-generated content in a way that