SANTA FE, New Mexico — A New Mexico state court has ordered Meta Platforms to make sweeping changes to Facebook and Instagram to protect young users, including tighter age verification, limits on teen use and restrictions on interactions between minors and adults, while imposing a $567 million payment for a state mental health fund.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled on Thursday that Meta had created a public nuisance under New Mexico law by designing its platforms in ways that encouraged addictive use among young people and by failing to adequately protect children from sexual exploitation.
The five-year order applies to users in New Mexico. It requires Meta to limit users under 18 to no more than 90 hours a month on Facebook and Instagram, restrict push notifications overnight and during school hours, and strengthen age-verification measures. Parents must also consent before the number of likes on a child's posts can be displayed.
The order further requires safeguards against sexualized interactions between children and Meta's artificial-intelligence chatbots, tighter controls on contact between minors and adults, enhanced handling of reports of child sexual abuse and measures to blur images suspected of containing nudity.
The $567 million payment will go into a New Mexico fund for teen mental-health prevention and treatment. It comes on top of $375 million in civil penalties awarded against Meta in an earlier phase of the case, bringing the combined amount to $942 million. A jury in that phase found Meta had violated state consumer-protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users.
Meta said it would appeal and rejected the state's characterization of its record on youth safety.
"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.
The judge declined to impose some of the broader changes sought by New Mexico, including modifications to Meta's algorithms and restrictions on features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay. Meta had argued that some proposed measures were technologically impractical and could force it to leave the state.
The ruling comes as Meta faces additional litigation over youth safety. More than 40 states and about 1,300 school districts have filed public nuisance lawsuits against social media companies, while a federal trial involving 29 states and Meta is scheduled to begin in Oakland, California, on Aug. 12.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the ruling a "blueprint" for governments seeking stronger protections for children online. Meta's appeal means the New Mexico measures remain subject to further legal proceedings.
