World News for Students of English

30-03-2026 07:00

A jury in New Mexico has delivered a major legal defeat to Meta, the company that owns Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The state’s attorney general accused Meta of misleading parents and users about the safety of its platforms.

The lawsuit claimed that Meta enabled child exploitation and failed to protect young people online. The jury ordered Meta to pay 375 million dollars in penalties. The attorney general described the verdict as a historic win and stated that no technology company is above the law. He argued that Meta prioritized profits over the safety of children.

Meta, however, strongly disagrees with the decision and plans to appeal. The company claims it has made extensive efforts to keep its platforms safe. This case is part of a larger trend, as Meta faces thousands of other lawsuits. Many of these accuse social media companies of creating addictive products that harm the mental health of teenagers. A second part of this trial will start in May to decide if Meta must change its systems.

Difficult words: attorney general (the most important lawyer in a state or a country), mislead (to make someone believe something that is not true by giving them wrong or incomplete information), exploitation (a situation where someone treats another person unfairly to gain an advantage or to make money for themselves), prioritize (to decide that one thing is more important than other things).

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