A JUDGE IN the US has ordered Meta to pay more than half a billion dollars over the state’s claims that the social media giant created a “public nuisance” and harmed children. Meta was previously ordered to pay $375 million (€324.9 million) in damages to New Mexico in March when a jury found the company liable for endangering children by making them vulnerable to predators on its platforms, among other harms. Age verification for social media users is becoming increasingly popular by regulators around the world, though implementing such policies has proven complex and difficult. Bellwether trialsThousands of lawsuits have been filed in the US seeking to hold social media companies liable for alleged harms to children and mental health. The first bellwether trial for social media harms on mental health concluded in March, when a Los Angeles jury ordered Meta and Google to pay a 20-year-old woman $6 million (€5.2 million).