This is The Guardian.

This is the first time that META has been held accountable in court for allegations that it puts children at safety risks.

What this case did was take aim at the design features on Mehta's platforms,

specifically Facebook and Instagram, that may allow these harms to happen.

I'm sure that other big tech companies are looking at this with, I imagine, something's in.

In a landmark trial, a US court has ordered META,

the owner of Facebook and Instagram,

to pay $375 million for endangering children.

Could it set a new precedent

for holding social media giants to account?

From the Guardians today in Focus,

this is the latest with me, Lucy Hoff.

I'm joined by Katie McHugh, an investigative journalist who's been reporting on this story for us.

Katie, thanks so much for dialing in from New York.

So you have been covering this case against Meta, which has been going on in a courtroom in New Mexico over the last seven weeks or so.

Meta essentially accused of misleading consumers on the safety of its platforms and enabling harm, particularly on child exploitation.

We will come onto the details of the allegations of the charges that were made against META in more detail.

But first of all, just describe how significant it is that META lost by jury in this New Mexico court in this way.

Thank you, Lise. So, as you know, this is the first time that META has been held accountable in court for allegations

that it puts children at safety risks. The reason why this is so significant is big tech companies

have enjoyed what's referred to as a liability shield on a federal level in the US where

there is a law called Section 230, which states that they are not

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