New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay Additional $567 Million in Child Safety Case

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million over allegations that its social media platforms contributed to harms and addiction among children and teenagers.

The new penalty, issued Thursday, comes on top of the $375 million fine imposed in March, bringing the total amount Meta has been ordered to pay in the case to $942 million.

The court also ordered Meta to make changes to how its platforms operate for users under 18 in New Mexico. The company must remove like counts for minors unless a parent or guardian approves their display. Push notifications to underage users must also be paused between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m.

The ruling further requires Meta to limit minors’ platform usage to 90 hours per month, equivalent to roughly three hours per day.

“Significant numbers of people in New Mexico experience harm from Meta’s products due to risks of sexual exploitation, interference with education, and adverse mental health outcomes,” the judge wrote in the order.

The judge acknowledged that Meta is not solely responsible for the mental health challenges facing young people in New Mexico, but concluded that the company’s platforms play a significant role. The court determined that Meta had created a substantial “public nuisance” in the state and ordered the company to take steps to address the harm.

Meta plans to appeal

Meta said it plans to appeal the judgment.

“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,” Meta spokesperson Andy Stone said. He added that the company remains confident in its record of protecting teenagers online and will continue defending itself against what it described as claims that misrepresent the facts.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez took a sharply different view, arguing that Meta knew its platforms were harming children but continued prioritising engagement and profits.

“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.

Torrez added that the judgment holds Meta accountable for the harm caused to children, families, and schools and requires the company to make changes to how it operates in New Mexico.

Meta faces more legal challenges

The ruling follows another legal setback for Meta in Los Angeles in March, where a court also found that the company had created addictive patterns on its social media platforms.

Meta is facing several other lawsuits over the effects of its products on young users. One of the largest is a case brought jointly by 33 states and consolidated in federal court in Oakland, California.

Other states have also pursued separate legal action against Meta. Tennessee, for example, has filed its own case concerning the company’s impact on children.

The New Mexico judgment could increase pressure on Meta to change how its platforms are designed and used by minors, while the company’s planned appeal means the legal fight is likely to continue.