SANTA FE, New Mexico — Meta Platforms must strengthen its age-estimation and age-assurance systems in New Mexico under a court ruling aimed at preventing children under 13 from using its social-media platforms, as the company faces a $567 million penalty over alleged harms to young users.
Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid of New Mexico’s First Judicial District Court ordered Meta to improve its age-assurance models and tools and to proactively seek proof of age from users it knows or estimates to be under 13. The ruling also calls for Meta to make reasonable best efforts to develop a dedicated prediction model for identifying users under 13 within two years.
Where Meta cannot determine a user’s age with sufficient confidence, the court’s measures require the company to treat the account as belonging to a younger user until age is verified, according to reporting on the ruling. The requirements are designed to address the difficulty of enforcing Meta’s minimum age rules, under which children under 13 are not permitted to maintain accounts on its platforms.
The ruling comes as Meta has been expanding artificial-intelligence systems to identify potentially underage users. The company said in May that its technology can analyze visual and profile information to estimate whether someone is younger than the permitted age, while describing the system as age analysis rather than facial recognition.
Biedscheid noted limitations imposed by federal privacy law concerning direct age verification of children under 13, according to the Associated Press. The court nevertheless directed Meta to continue improving its predictive systems and to delete data relating to users identified as under 13 under the prescribed conditions.
The age-assurance requirements form part of a broader set of measures ordered by the judge. Meta was also ordered to introduce additional safeguards for minors, including warnings and other platform changes, while reporting its compliance progress twice a year. The measures apply to Meta’s services in New Mexico.
The court separately ordered Meta to pay $567 million, with $420 million designated for treatment services for young people and the remainder for prevention, awareness and related programs over five years. That follows a $375 million civil penalty imposed after a March jury verdict found Meta liable for violations of New Mexico consumer-protection law.
Meta has said it intends to appeal and has defended its record on protecting teenagers online. The company said it remains confident in its safety measures and will continue contesting what it described as claims that misrepresent the facts.
