New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health • Hacker News Board

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#411

Post by brailsafe » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 10:15 PM UTC

hbn wrote: post #324

sajithdilshan wrote: post #169

Instagram (reels) and tiktok are truly online version of Heroine equivalent. I remember during pandemic time downloading tiktok just to see what's all the hype was about and next thing, I was wasting hours mindlessly scrolling through it. Later on same happened with reels as well. I would open the app thinking maybe just check for 15mins and time just goes by so fast and I would end-up wasting hours on it. Also, the…

I get the addictiveness of TikTok and Reels but I don't know what the solution is to the supposed insidiousness. They just figured out what you like to watch and showed you more similar stuff. Are we gonna make laws that say "if you're running a video platform you have to figure out what people DON'T want to watch and regularly shove it in their face so the feed is bad"? That still requires building a deep understand…

> They just figured out what you like to watch and showed you more similar stuff.

> you have to figure out what people DON'T want to watch and regularly shove it in their face so the feed is bad

They did both, and figured out the perfect delivery mechanism to keep you watching; just the right amount of everything, with an interaction pattern not dissimilar to a casino.

YouTube and Instagram are dramatically less addictive if you just download discrete videos.

I'm a huge proponent of deleting all of these apps, but if you think you organically really like certain content, download it on the fly from a list of select channels.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#412

Post by quickthrowman » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 10:15 PM UTC

hbn wrote: post #324

sajithdilshan wrote: post #169

Instagram (reels) and tiktok are truly online version of Heroine equivalent. I remember during pandemic time downloading tiktok just to see what's all the hype was about and next thing, I was wasting hours mindlessly scrolling through it. Later on same happened with reels as well. I would open the app thinking maybe just check for 15mins and time just goes by so fast and I would end-up wasting hours on it. Also, the…

I get the addictiveness of TikTok and Reels but I don't know what the solution is to the supposed insidiousness. They just figured out what you like to watch and showed you more similar stuff. Are we gonna make laws that say "if you're running a video platform you have to figure out what people DON'T want to watch and regularly shove it in their face so the feed is bad"? That still requires building a deep understand…

> I get the addictiveness of TikTok and Reels but I don't know what the solution is to the supposed insidiousness. They just figured out what you like to watch and showed you more similar stuff.

The solution for an individual is not to consume short-form video content.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#413

Post by outof » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 10:21 PM UTC

tristanj wrote: post #201

tmp10423288442 wrote: post #109

A lot of people on this story are making the usual snarky remarks that, oh, this is just a slap on the wrist—some trivial proportion of Meta’s global revenue. And that is true, but unlike the EU, for example, New Mexico is a tiny jurisdiction. It only has a little bit more than 2 million people. So actually, a fine—or a judgment—of $942 million that applies just to New Mexico is enormous. If you look at Meta’s revenu…

This analysis actually understates how massive and outsized the penalties are. The court ruling only applies to children in New Mexico under age 18. New Mexico has ~450,000 people under age 18, of which roughly 140,000 are between ages 13-17 (Meta officially requires age 13+ to use their platforms). Recent Pew surveys of U.S. teens ages 13–17 show ~70% of teenagers use Instagram and ~30% use Facebook. In New Mexico,…

$7,250 won't buy much therapy. They should get more.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#414

Post by philipallstar » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 10:46 PM UTC

shermantanktop wrote: post #344

cheschire wrote: post #334

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I feel like you skipped the next sentence from GP. This type of award might not balance the equation the way you think it does.

The inverse incentive is what's in place today: a platform actively harming the users who signed up for it, in pursuit of ad dollars. The incentive is to extract maximum revenue while disregarding the real-world effects of actions, including driving children to self-harm or mental illness. That's bizarre. But I know for some people, it doesn't seem bizarre, and just seems like "capitalism."

The platform isn't actively harming. It's actively driving them to content they engage with. What they're choosing to engage with is harmful. The fact their parents let them on the platform is the crazy part, but the state already extracts vast amounts of money from them.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#415

Post by johannesrexx » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 11:14 PM UTC

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Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#416

Post by dash2 » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 11:18 PM UTC

EmbarrassedHelp wrote: post #372

dash2 wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is the lack of proper sexual education in schools and open dialogue in society because we're limited by Christian taboos to only ever mentioning abstinence until marriage, so porn becomes the only way men learn about sex and intimacy The UK has a lot of sex education, no such taboos, and is the home of OnlyFans. Are any of the problems you mention better in the UK than the US? > Kill all the porn sites…

Despite the UK's better sex education, the country (or at least its leadership) is still disturbingly socially conservative when it comes to sex.

What is the evidence that makes you think so?

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#417

Post by Razengan » Fri, Aug 07, 2026, 11:19 PM UTC

Balinares wrote: post #171

dizlexic wrote: post #162

Parent your kids. There are countless services to block content you don't want. There are dedicated ISPs and cell phone providers that block content you don't want. Quit thinking that government regulation & registration are the only ways to prevent children from accessing objectionable content. Removing internet anonymity as a rule will do far more harm than good. Just because the people you agree with are driving t…

This assumes a world where one parent can afford to not work and mind the kids full time instead. This also assumes a world where having a parent over their shoulder full time doesn't severely mess up kids. And meanwhile, punishing companies that knowingly cause harm for profit is broadly beneficial and should be a no-brainer. It also doesn't have anything to do with hypocritical age verification laws, which companie…

> This assumes a world where one parent can afford to not work and mind the kids full time instead. This also assumes a world where having a parent over their shoulder full time doesn't severely mess up kids.

So, uhh.. let the government screw people so they can't afford to parent their kids, so they have to let the government spy on everyone so we don't have to parent our kids?

And, instead of having a physical entity "over your shoulder" and knowing when you're being watched, kids should be watched 24/7 by invisible entities everywhere?? That WON'T "mess up" kids??

What the fucking hell

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#418

Post by [deleted] » Sat, Aug 08, 2026, 12:02 AM UTC

1vuio0pswjnm7 wrote: post #85

"Meta raised an affirmative defense that it is immune from the States public nuisance claim pursuant to Section 230(c)(1) of the CDA. Defendants Amended Answer and Affirmative Defenses at 65, 17, State ex rel. Torrez v. Meta Platforms, Inc. , D-101-CV-2023-02838 (1st Jud. Dist. Ct. Aug. 2, 2024). This Court concludes that Meta is not immune from the public nuisance claim." https://www.debevoise.com/-/media/files/insi…

[deleted]