CAI's Executive Director, Professor Jessica Heldman (JD) '04 Appears on NBC 7 San Diego News to Discuss the New Mexico Social Media Verdict
SAN DIEGO - Jessica Heldman, Executive Director of the Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI) and Fellmeth-Peterson Associate Professor in Child Rights at the University of San Diego School of Law, appeared on NBC 7 San Diego news to comment on the landmark New Mexico verdict ordering Meta to pay $375 million in damages related to user safety failures.
The jury found that Meta failed to adequately protect minors using its platforms from child predators — a decision that legal and child advocacy experts are calling a watershed moment in the fight for online child safety.
Professor Heldman noted that the verdict may signal a turning point in how technology companies weigh their responsibilities to young users, stating that companies may now recognize that the consequences extend beyond the human toll on children to include significant financial liability. She expressed hope that the ruling would serve as a catalyst for meaningful change in how these platforms operate and protect their most vulnerable users.
To view the story by Omari Fleming visit NBC 7 San Diego News.
About the Children’s Advocacy Institute
The Children's Advocacy Institute (CAI), founded at the nonprofit University of San Diego School of Law in 1989, is one of the nation's premiere academic, research, and advocacy organizations working to improve the lives of children and youth, with special emphasis on improving the child protection and foster care systems and enhancing resources that are available to youth aging out of foster care.
In its academic component, CAI trains law students and attorneys to be effective child advocates throughout their legal careers. Its Child Advocacy Clinic gives USD Law students three distinct clinical opportunities to advocate on behalf of children and youth.
CAI's research and advocacy component, conducted through its offices in San Diego, Sacramento, and Washington, D.C., seeks to leverage change for children and youth through impact litigation, regulatory and legislative advocacy, and public education. Active primarily at the federal and state levels, CAI's efforts are multi-faceted—comprehensively and successfully embracing all tools of public interest advocacy to improve the lives of children and youth. To support CAI’s work, please visit our website.
About the School of Law
Each year, USD Law educates approximately 800 Juris Doctor and graduate law students from throughout the United States and around the world. The law school is best known for its offerings in the areas of business and corporate law, constitutional law, intellectual property, international and comparative law, public interest law and taxation.
USD School of Law is one of the 88 law schools elected to the Order of the Coif, a national honor society for law school graduates. The law school’s faculty is a strong group of outstanding scholars and teachers with national and international reputations and currently ranks 34th nationally among U.S. law faculties in scholarly impact and 35th nationally in past-year faculty downloads on the Social Sciences Research Network (SSRN). The school is accredited by the American Bar Association and is a member of the Association of American Law Schools. Founded in 1954, the law school is part of the University of San Diego, a private, independent, Roman Catholic university chartered in 1949.