Shareholders Push to Tie Meta Executive Pay to Child Safety

Meta shareholders are set to vote on May 27 on a resolution that would require the board to assess linking senior executive compensation to improvements in child safety, announced in a press release. The measure comes shortly after two court rulings found the company liable in cases involving harm to minors on its platforms.

The proposal was filed by Proxy Impact on behalf of Dr. Lisette Cooper and co-filed by 13 institutional investors representing about 800 million dollars in Meta stock. Former Meta executive and child safety advocate Kelly Stonelake will present the resolution at the annual meeting. Supporters argue that linking pay to safety performance could help align leadership incentives with mitigating legal and regulatory risks.

In March, a New Mexico court ordered Meta Platforms, Inc. to pay 375 million dollars for violating consumer protection laws, citing misleading statements on platform safety and failure to protect minors. The next day, a California court found both Meta and Google liable for designing addictive platforms that harm young users' mental health. Meta faces more than 2,400 additional lawsuits and a preliminary finding under the European Union's Digital Services Act that could result in fines up to 6 percent of global revenue.

The resolution also notes that Meta’s current executive bonus plan rewards market capitalization growth targets that critics say may conflict with safety objectives. Proxy Impact CEO Michael Passoff said the financial case for linking compensation to child safety metrics is strong, given the scale of ongoing litigation and the availability of internal data to measure safety outcomes.