New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harm to youths

A judge in New Mexico in the United States has ordered Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to pay $567m and change how its platforms function for young users in the state after finding the company is to blame for harming children’s mental health.

Thursday’s ruling came in the second phase of a landmark trial against the social media giant, with jurors in March finding that Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users. The jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages earlier this year.

After this latest ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money, $420m, will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go towards awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

The decision means the look of Meta’s platforms could change. The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain their protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comments, for example, and display them regularly.

Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.

Meta said it will appeal the ruling and that it has been working to identify and remove harmful content from its platforms.

“We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts,” the company said in a statement.

The judge had heard three weeks of testimony during the second trial over the lawsuit, which did not involve a jury. It focused solely on whether Meta’s platforms created a “public nuisance” under New Mexico law.

The case is being closely watched across the US as states, municipalities and school districts  pursue similar claims seeking to force changes at the industry level.