Ruling brings total liability to nearly $1bn after judge finds platforms a ‘public nuisance’ contributing to youth mental health crisis.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay an additional $567 million into a fund aimed at addressing harms to young people, bringing the company’s total liability in a landmark child-safety case to nearly $942 million.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the state district court in Santa Fe issued the ruling late on Thursday, finding that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms constitute a public nuisance and are “a significant contributing cause” to a mental health crisis among the state’s youth.
Court Orders Meta Platform Reforms for Minors:
The new payment is on top of $375 million in civil penalties awarded by a jury in March. That jury found Meta had willfully violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by misleading users about the safety of its platforms and failing to adequately protect children from sexual exploitation and other harms.
Of the $567 million abatement fund, approximately $420 million is earmarked for treatment services for young people affected by social media. The remainder will support awareness and prevention programmes, screening and assessment, referrals, and evaluation over a five-year period. Meta must also submit regular progress reports to the court and the state.
In addition to the financial penalty, the judge ordered a series of platform changes that will apply to underage users in New Mexico for five years. These include:
- Monthly time limits on Facebook and Instagram use by teens.
- Restrictions on push notifications (including bans between 10pm and 7am, and during school hours on weekdays).
- Private-by-default settings for accounts of users under 18.
- Limits on adult contact with minors and on recommendations of underage accounts to adults.
- Safeguards restricting romantic or sexualised interactions with Meta’s AI chatbots involving children.
- Enhanced review of child sexual abuse material reports and a one-strike policy for adults engaging in exploitation.
Meta to Appeal Landmark Child Safety Ruling:
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who filed the lawsuit in 2023, welcomed the decision. “For years, Meta knew its platforms were harming New Mexico’s kids, from feeding a youth mental health crisis to connecting predators with children, and it chose engagement and profit over their safety,” Torrez said. He described the ruling as a victory for parents and children and a potential blueprint for other states.
Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal. “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” a company spokesman said. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
The case is one of dozens brought by US states and school districts against social media companies over alleged harms to young users. It is widely regarded as one of the most significant legal setbacks for Meta to date on the issue of child safety and platform design.