How Many Billions Would It Take to Hold Meta Accountable?
Meta is facing a series of massive legal penalties and settlements across the US related to data privacy, child safety, and addictive app design. Despite billions of dollars in fines, the article suggests these costs are increasingly viewed as a standard expense of doing business for the tech giant.
Why it matters
The article highlights the ongoing struggle of regulators to effectively curb the influence and practices of Big Tech through financial penalties alone.
A quick recap of the case: Filed in 2021, the suit alleged that the company violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act by lying to Meta users about the way it handled their data. (Later, New Mexico’s attorney general also made claims against Meta’s content moderation policies.) In September, a jury ruled in favor of the state. Then came the multibillion-dollar penalty.
“This ruling, and the Attorney General's approach to enforcement, makes it all but impossible to do business in the state of New Mexico,” C.J. Mahoney, Meta’s chief legal officer, said in a statement. “At its core, this lawsuit seeks to impose a tax on speech to enforce new rules for what people can say online. We are confident we will prevail on appeal.”
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