A New Mexico judge on Thursday ordered apnews.com to pay an additional $567 million to address youth harms from its platforms, marking the second phase of a landmark trial and the largest child safety ruling against the company, according to BBC News. Judge Bryan Biedscheid characterized the social media giant as a public nuisance
comparable to air pollution, ruling that the company must deposit the funds into an abatement initiative aimed at mitigating future harms.
New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $567 Million in Landmark Child Safety Ruling
The total financial liability for Meta in this specific case reaches $942 million, incorporating an earlier $375 million civil penalty ordered by jurors in March. In that initial phase, the jury determined that the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health, concealed risks related to child sexual exploitation, and repeatedly violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by utilizing recommendation algorithms that steered young users toward harmful content and contacts.
Allocation of Funds and Abatement Measures
According to the court order, the vast majority of the newly assessed funds—totaling $420 million—will be directed toward treatment services for young people. This includes funding clinical and behavioral health programs and professionals to address harms already caused by Facebook and Instagram. The remaining funds will cover awareness, prevention, screening services, and specialized training for teachers and health professionals over a five-year period.
Alongside the financial penalties, Judge Biedscheid imposed structural and operational requirements on Meta’s platforms:
- Ensuring no account belonging to a user under the age of 18 is recommended to an adult.
- Prohibiting adults from messaging underage users and banning the sending or receiving of nudity by minors.
- Implementing a “1-strike policy” for adult users who engage in child sexual exploitation.
- Eliminating “like” counts for users under 18.
- Restricting push notifications for minor users daily between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, and during school hours from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on weekdays.
- Enforcing a mandatory cumulative usage limit of 90 hours per month across Instagram and Facebook for underage users.
Legal Defense and Broader Litigation Landscape
Meta has vowed to appeal the rulings. In a statement reported by apnews.com, the company defended its safety record, stating, 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 also argued during the trial that many proposed remedies could conflict with federal legislation, such as the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), and free speech protections.
The case originated from a 2023 lawsuit brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. It marked the first time a state successfully sued Meta over child safety issues, and legal analysts noted it is likely the first time a social media company has been formally deemed a public nuisance. The total penalty amount represents a fraction of Meta’s annual profit, which reached approximately $60 billion in 2025.
The ruling arrives amid a wider wave of litigation across the United States. Meta faces thousands of similar lawsuits nationwide, including an earlier case loss in Los Angeles and upcoming multi-state trials involving allegations of youth mental health exploitation and child privacy violations.
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