LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — A Nevada judge found a reasonable likelihood that Meta violated the Deceptive Trade Practices Act by misrepresenting the safety of its Messenger encryption, Attorney General Aaron D. Ford announced Wednesday.
The Eighth Judicial District Court found that Meta did not disclose its knowledge of child safety issues related to its end-to-end encryption technologies and failed to divulge information that the technology can create risks and harms for children. The court entered a preliminary injunction in the case earlier this month.
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The injunction bars Meta from making false statements or omissions regarding the safety of end-to-end encryption in its Messenger application — including Messenger’s integration with Meta’s other platforms — for Nevada users under the age of 18.
“Meta knew for years that the end-to-end encryption technologies that it used on its Messenger application opened up serious safety concerns about our country’s children,” Ford said. “Meta intentionally hid information that would have allowed parents to make informed decisions about their children’s online safety and risked the safety of Nevada’s youth. I will not stop until they are held accountable.”
Broader social media litigation
The Nevada Attorney General’s Office currently has lawsuits pending against Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, YouTube, Discord and Kik. The suits accuse those companies of using harmful design features, failing to implement safety measures for children and misleading the public about child users’ safety. Several of the lawsuits also include products liability claims and economic damages.
The office is scheduled for trial against TikTok and Snap in 2027 and against Meta in early 2028.
Earlier this year, a New Mexico jury ordered Meta to pay a $375 million penalty for misleading the public about harms on its platforms. In a separate California trial, a jury awarded $3 million to an individual who sued Meta, YouTube, Snapchat and TikTok over allegations that their design inflicted mental health harms on her when she was a teenager.
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