Meta Ordered to Pay $567M Over Harm to Children in New Mexico Lawsuit

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million for failing to warn the public about the dangers its social media platforms posed to children. The judgment comes on top of the $375 million the Instagram and Facebook parent was ordered to pay in March after the first phase of the trial.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled late Thursday that teenagers in New Mexico are in the midst of a mental health crisis and that "Meta's platforms are a significant contributing cause to the crisis." The payment will fund awareness, prevention, screening, assessment, and referral programs, with the bulk — $420 million — going toward treatment.

In the ruling, Facebook's platforms were described as a "public nuisance." Biedscheid compared Meta to a factory, where advertising and other content serve as the product and "the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children" constitute the pollution that must be abated.

The court also ordered Meta to implement private-by-default settings for users under 18 and to limit friends for minors to other users under 18. Accounts belonging to underage users must not appear in search results or recommendations, according to the order.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the verdict a victory for parents worried about social media's effects on children. He said the case was always about protecting kids, standing up for families, and ensuring that one of the world's largest tech companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequences.

Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal. A company spokesperson stated that Meta works hard to keep people safe on its platforms and has been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. The company remains confident in its record of protecting teens online and will defend itself against claims it says misrepresent the facts.

This is not the only legal scrutiny Meta has faced over underage users. In March, a California jury found both Meta and Alphabet, Google's parent company, liable in a lawsuit filed by a 20-year-old woman who alleged that YouTube and Instagram were designed to be addictive to children. Social media platforms have introduced specific settings and tools for their youngest users, but litigation continues.