Technology

If corporations are people, then why can't Facebook go to jail?

Money.

Oh no, "child protection" was never about protecting children? I am shocked, shocked

Putting this in fixed-width for scale:

This ruling:                        375,000,000
Meta valuation:               1,618,000,000,000

This isn't even a slap on the wrist; it's a fucking rounding error.

The New Mexico court heard how Meta’s 2023 decision to encrypt Facebook Messenger – its direct messaging platform, which predators have used as a tool to groom minors and exchange child abuse imagery – blocked access to crucial evidence of these crimes.

Encryption! These monsters!

In the next phase of the legal proceedings, due to begin on 4 May, the attorney general’s office will seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms that “offer stronger protections for children”, said Torrez.

The design feature changes the state is seeking include “enacting effective age verification, removing predators from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield bad actors”.

And when that happens, the headline lemmings here will call it enshittification and call for even harsher rules.

jury finds firm misled consumers over safety and enabled harm against users

If I do something like this, I go to jail

WHY THE FUCK IS ZUCKERBERG NOT IN JAIL?

I predict this will be tied up in appeals until the day SCOTUS or the executive sniff these suits out.

So...it's a fucking fine, which way less then he made by doing this. Until throw these fucks in jail this shit will continue.

Good! Remember though, fines don't count anymore, only hard time. Remove some years from these fuckers lives and they'll think twice in the future.

Facebook made 200 billion in revenue in 2025.

https://stockanalysis.com/stocks/meta/revenue/

They were fined $375 million. They averaged $550 million per day last year.

"The design feature changes the state is seeking include “enacting effective age verification, removing predators from the platform, and protecting minors from encrypted communications that shield bad actors”."

Oh fuck right off.

I'm sorry but this is a bad "think of the children" decision. There are limits to what Meta or any platform can do about bad actors at that size without structural changes.

What might actually help: only show people content from groups and people that they follow, preferably in chronological order, rather than suggesting new groups and pages algorithmically all the time and thereby increasing the likelihood of children interacting with strangers on the Internet.

And improve parental controls for children's accounts. I'm sure there's nothing currently giving a "parent" account high level control over a "child" account, but I'm happy to be corrected if I'm wrong.

But also: require intercompatibility with other platforms and a standardized form of profile data export so people can leave Facebook but stay in touch with the people who still use it.

The jury ordered Meta to pay the maximum penalty under the law of $5,000 per violation, totaling $375m in civil penalties for violating New Mexico’s consumer protection laws.

Meta: I guess I will only be able to spend $79.635.000.000 on my next useless venture.

Fine Zuckerfuck his entire net worth AND Meta. He's poor now.

Now, let's take a look at Musk, Bezos, and Ellison.

It says Google will already fight the lawsuit and zuckerberg wants to as well, lmao and he says he wants to protect children but he won't even admit fault with victims? Asshole. There's literally a docu about it: Molly vs the machines.

The two companies probably have to pay more than 3 million dollars. In the next phase of the trial, the jury examines the so-called punitive damages. These are additional damages, intended as an additional penalty.

And because of this instagram will also remove end-to-end encryption and add age-verification

The New Mexico case also raised concerns that allowing teens to use end-to-end encryption on Instagram chats — a privacy measure that blocks anyone other than sender and receiver from viewing a conversation — could make it harder for law enforcement to catch predators. Midway through trial, Meta said it would stop supporting end-to-end-encrypted messaging on Instagram later this year.

Regarding the encryption decision, a Meta spokesperson told CNN that, “very few people were opting in to end-to-end encrypted messaging in DMs, so we’re removing this option from Instagram in the coming months. Anyone who wants to keep messaging with end-to-end encryption can easily do that on WhatsApp.”

-- https://edition.cnn.com/2026/03/24/tech/meta-new-mexico-trial-jury-deliberation

In May, Judge Bryan Biedscheid is slated to hold a trial without a jury on the state's claims that Meta created a public nuisance that harmed state residents' health and safety. The state will ask Biedscheid to direct Meta to make changes to its platforms, including adding effective age verification and removing predators, it said Tuesday.

-- https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/meta-ordered-to-pay-375-million-in-new-mexico-trial-over-child-exploitation-user-safety-claims/ar-AA1ZkHhq

Unfortunately, part of the court's decision was that Facebook wasn't surveilling people enough.

The New Mexico court heard how Meta’s 2023 decision to encrypt Facebook Messenger – its direct messaging platform, which predators have used as a tool to groom minors and exchange child abuse imagery – blocked access to crucial evidence of these crimes.

You're telling me we shouldn't have trusted a sentient Annabelle doll in a t-shirt and jeans with the safety of defenseless children? Is THAT what you're telling ME!? ... Well, yeah, actually, that makes a lot of sense.