SANTA FE, N.M. — A New Mexico judge has declared Meta Platforms a public nuisance over the harm its social media platforms caused to children and teenagers, ordering the company to pay $567 million into a state fund for youth mental-health services and adopt additional safeguards for young users.
Chief District Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the ruling after a two-week bench trial in which New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez argued that Meta’s platforms contributed to mental-health harms and exposed children to sexual exploitation. The decision follows a March jury verdict that ordered Meta to pay $375 million for violating the state’s consumer-protection laws.
The combined financial penalties bring Meta’s liability in the case to $942 million, according to Reuters. The judge’s latest order also requires changes to Facebook and Instagram aimed at limiting risks to minors, including tighter age-assurance measures, restrictions on notifications during school and nighttime hours and additional controls intended to prevent adults from interacting with children.
The ruling also places limits on how Meta’s artificial-intelligence chatbots interact with minors and requires other measures concerning suspected underage accounts and child-safety information. Some of the remedies sought by New Mexico were rejected, including changes to certain recommendation systems and features such as infinite scroll and autoplay.
The state had initially sought a substantially broader package of changes and a multibillion-dollar program to address youth mental-health harms. During the second phase of the case, prosecutors argued that Meta’s platform design and business practices amounted to a public nuisance under New Mexico law.
Meta has disputed the allegations and said it plans to appeal the ruling. The company has maintained that it has invested in measures designed to protect teenagers and that its platforms do not cause the harms alleged by the state.
Torrez has described the decision as potentially significant for similar litigation elsewhere. More than 40 states and numerous school districts have pursued cases alleging that major social-media companies harmed young users, making the New Mexico ruling a closely watched development in the broader legal challenge to technology companies’ responsibility for youth safety.
The order applies to Meta’s operations in New Mexico, while the company’s planned appeal could determine whether the judgment and its platform requirements remain in effect.
