Meta in that ruling was ordered to pay $375 million in damages. He had claimed Meta created a “breeding ground” for child predators on Facebook and Instagram, which the company denied. The first, to determine whether Meta misled users about dangers on its platform, resulted in a March jury ordering Meta to pay $375 million in damages. The second phase of the trial, before a judge, was to decide whether Meta’s platforms were a “public nuisance.” Throughout Thursday’s ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid compared Meta and its suite of apps to a factory — and its harm to puffing toxins into the air.