Meta Ordered to Pay $567M Over Harm to Children Online
Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has been ordered to pay $567 million to help address the harm its platforms caused to children’s mental health and online safety.
The ruling came from a New Mexico State court, where Judge Bryan Biedscheid ordered the company to establish an abatement fund after finding Meta’s platforms contributed to a public nuisance by exposing children to addictive features, mental health harms and sexual exploitation. The latest judgement follows a $375 million civil penalty imposed earlier this year, bringing Meta’s total liability in the case to $942 million.
Under the order, $420 million will be used to expand treatment services for young people in New Mexico, while the remaining funds will support prevention programs, public awareness campaigns, screening services and oversight efforts over the next five years. The court also ordered Meta to strengthen age verification, improve protections for minors, enhance its AI systems to identify users under 13, and implement additional safeguards designed to reduce child sexual exploitation and excessive use of its platforms.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez originally sued Meta in 2023, alleging the company knowingly designed products that encouraged compulsive use among children while failing to adequately protect them from predators and harmful content. Met has denied the allegations, arguing it has invested heavily in teen safety tools and saying it plans to appeal the ruling.
The case is one of several legal challenges facing Meta over youth safety. The company is also defending lawsuits brought by dozens of states and thousands of families alleging its social media platforms contributed to anxiety, depression, eating disorders and other mental health issues among young users. Legal experts say the New Mexico decision could influence similar cases nationwide as courts continue weighing the responsibility of social media companies to protect children online.
