SANTA FE, New Mexico — A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay $567 million to fund programs addressing youth mental health harms linked to its social media platforms, while requiring the company to implement a series of changes aimed at strengthening protections for children and teenagers.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the ruling on Thursday in the second phase of a landmark case brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The order follows a March jury verdict that imposed $375 million in civil penalties after finding Meta liable under state law for conduct related to harms to children, bringing the company's total liability in the case to $942 million.
According to the ruling, about $420 million of the newly ordered funds will be directed to youth mental health treatment services, with the remaining money designated for prevention efforts, public awareness campaigns, screening services and related programs over the next five years.
The court also ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to adopt a range of operational changes. Those include strengthening age-verification measures, expanding efforts to identify users under 13 through artificial intelligence tools where appropriate, regularly displaying educational information about safety features, deleting data collected from accounts belonging to users under 13, and submitting compliance reports to the court twice each year.
In a statement, Attorney General Torrez described the decision as a significant victory for child safety and said the remedies were intended both to address past harms and reduce future risks to young users.
Meta said it disagreed with the decision and intends to appeal. The company has maintained that it has invested heavily in tools designed to protect teenagers online and disputed the state's allegations regarding its conduct.
The lawsuit, filed in 2023, accused Meta of contributing to a youth mental health crisis through features that encouraged prolonged engagement and of failing to adequately protect children from harmful content and exploitation. Meta denied wrongdoing throughout the proceedings. The March jury verdict resolved liability issues, leaving the court to determine remedies in the second phase of the case.
The New Mexico case is among a growing number of legal actions across the United States targeting social media companies over allegations that their platforms contribute to youth mental health problems. Separate lawsuits brought by other states and school districts against Meta and other technology companies remain pending.
