New Mexico Judge Orders Meta to Pay $567 Million and Overhaul Youth Safety Features

BY COMFORT OGBONNA

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a state fund dedicated to teen mental health and implement sweeping changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for young users after finding the company responsible for creating conditions that harmed children’s well-being.

The ruling marks one of the most significant legal setbacks for the social media giant in the growing national effort to hold technology companies accountable for the impact of their platforms on children and teenagers.

State District Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta created a public nuisance in New Mexico by designing platform features that encouraged excessive use among minors while failing to adequately protect children from online exploitation and other harmful content.

The decision follows an earlier phase of the case in which a jury awarded the state $375 million after concluding that Meta violated consumer protection laws by misleading users about the safety of Facebook and Instagram for children and teenagers.

Together, the rulings represent a major victory for New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who argued that Meta prioritized corporate profits over the safety and mental health of young users.

As part of Thursday’s decision, the court ordered Meta to introduce a series of youth safety reforms that must remain in place for the next five years.

The required changes include monthly limits on the amount of time teenagers can spend on Facebook and Instagram, tighter restrictions on notifications that encourage repeated engagement, stronger protections limiting contact between adults and minors, enhanced safeguards for the company’s artificial intelligence chatbots, and improved systems for reviewing reports involving child sexual abuse.

The court also ordered Meta to prevent children in New Mexico from engaging in romantic or sexually suggestive conversations with the company’s AI chatbots. In addition, adults in the state must be prevented from using those chatbots to simulate or discuss sexual interactions involving children.

Meta said it strongly disagrees with the ruling and intends to appeal.

The company maintained that it has invested heavily in protecting teenagers online and continues to remove harmful content from its platforms while developing new safety tools for younger users.

The lawsuit is among a growing number of legal challenges accusing social media companies of contributing to declining youth mental health, online addiction and child exploitation.

Although many of the lawsuits have been filed by individual families seeking compensation for alleged harm, state governments, cities and school districts have increasingly pursued broader legal action aimed at forcing technology companies to redesign their platforms.

More than 40 states and over 1,300 school districts have filed similar public nuisance lawsuits seeking financial damages as well as court-ordered reforms to social media products and business practices.

During the three-week bench trial, New Mexico argued that Meta’s platforms had created widespread societal harm extending well beyond individual users.

Judge Biedscheid agreed with that argument, comparing the effects of Meta’s platforms to environmental pollution that spreads beyond its original source and impacts entire communities.

In his ruling, the judge wrote that the harmful effects experienced by children using Meta’s platforms extend into families, schools, hospitals, law enforcement agencies and society as a whole, creating a public burden rather than isolated personal injuries.

Meta rejected those arguments throughout the trial, contending that public nuisance laws were never intended to regulate social media platforms.

The company argued that its services do not interfere with traditional public rights, such as access to clean air or water, and noted that young people use numerous online platforms, making it inappropriate to single out one company for broader social problems.

Meta also maintained that many of the reforms requested by the state would be technologically difficult or impossible to implement and warned that some could force the company to reconsider operating in New Mexico.

The company further argued that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shields online platforms from liability arising from content created by users.

Judge Biedscheid rejected that defense, concluding that New Mexico’s lawsuit focused primarily on Meta’s own platform design, product features and business decisions rather than holding the company responsible for user-generated content.

However, the judge declined to impose several of the state’s requested remedies. He ruled that forcing Meta to redesign recommendation algorithms or eliminate features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay could raise constitutional concerns under the First Amendment, interfere with the company’s competitive position and potentially conflict with federal legal protections governing online platforms.

The decision arrives as Meta faces mounting legal pressure across the United States over allegations that its platforms are harmful to young users.

The company is scheduled to stand trial in federal court next week over claims brought by 29 states alleging that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to be addictive for children while misleading users about their safety. That lawsuit could expose the company to substantial financial damages if the states prevail.

Meta is also defending a separate lawsuit filed by Tennessee involving similar allegations that Instagram was deliberately engineered to maximize engagement among young users despite known risks to their mental health.

The company has previously warned investors that increasing legal and regulatory scrutiny in the United States and Europe over youth safety issues could have a significant impact on its operations and financial performance.

The New Mexico ruling is expected to become an important legal precedent as governments around the world continue exploring new ways to regulate social media platforms and require stronger protections for children online.