Survivor Parents Issue Statement in Light of Decision in Landmark New Mexico Social Media Trial

Meta Finally Held Liable for Harms Children Suffered While Using Their Dangerous Products. Survivor Parents Applaud Important Milestone in the David Vs. Goliath Effort to Hold Big Tech Accountable

(Washington, D.C.) — Parents for Safe Online Spaces (ParentsSOS), a coalition of families who have lost children due to online harms, issued the following statement after the jury reached a verdict in the landmark trial in New Mexico against Meta:

“We parents who have experienced the unimaginable – the death of a child because of social media harms – applaud this rare and momentous milestone in the years-long fight to hold Big Tech accountable for the dangers their products pose to our kids. 

While $375 million in damages is only a morsel of the amount Meta should pay for the harms its platforms have caused to families and young people, we are relieved to see that the jury held Meta accountable for its failure to protect children from predators.

“Finally, a jury said, enough. Social media companies can no longer behave with such callous disregard for the safety and well-being of their youngest users. This is a watershed moment, the start of a new chapter for Meta where they will be made to pay a price for their greed. 

“We are grateful to the plaintiff who exercised their voice to bring these companies to justice. 

“And yet the next chapter for Meta continues to center on needed federal legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) that requires social media platforms to create products that are safe by design. This bill’s transformative duty of care provision would prevent companies from designing their products to addict children and putting kids at risk of serious harms, thus providing meaningful safeguards where none now exist.

“We will not stop advocating for KOSA — the gold standard of children’s online safety bills — until it becomes law. We hope that the outcome today gives our leaders in Congress the added incentive they seem to need to do their part: to pass a law that chooses the safety of children over Big Tech’s lobbying dollars once and for all.”