A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million over harms its social media platforms posed to children, bringing the company’s total financial liability in the case to $942 million.
The ruling, issued Thursday by Judge Bryan Biedscheid, is the largest against Meta over child safety. It follows an earlier $375 million verdict in the same case.
Biedscheid found that Meta’s platforms constitute a “public nuisance” and ordered the company to establish a fund aimed at addressing existing harms and preventing future ones.
The case originated from a lawsuit filed by attorneys for the State of New Mexico in 2023. They argued that Meta should be held responsible for exposing children to sexually explicit material and potential contact with sexual predators through its platforms.
In the first phase of the trial, Meta was found to have repeatedly violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act. The court determined that the company’s recommendation algorithms — which automatically select and organize content shown to users — essentially “steered” young people toward harmful content and contacts.
In the latest phase of the case, Biedscheid concluded that the scale of the harm amounted to a “public nuisance,” meaning a health and safety issue widespread enough to negatively affect the general public.
The judge compared Meta’s operations to a factory, describing advertising and content as its products and “the psychological harm and sexual exploitation of children” as pollution that must be addressed.
Of the $567 million ordered by the court, $420 million will be directed toward treating harms already caused by Meta’s platforms, including funding “appropriate clinical or other behavioral health programs and professionals.”
Additional money will be used for awareness and prevention efforts, including training teachers and health professionals to respond to social media-related harms affecting children.
The ruling also requires Meta to introduce a series of protections for users under 18.
Under the order, accounts belonging to minors must not be recommended to adults, and adults must not be allowed to message underage users. Meta must also prevent minors from sending or receiving nudity and introduce a “1-strike policy” for adult users who engage in child sexual exploitation.
The company was additionally ordered to eliminate visible “like” counts for users under 18 and restrict push notifications for minors between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. During the typical school year, such notifications must also be disabled between 8 a.m. and 3 p.m. on weekdays.
The court also imposed a mandatory usage limit of 90 cumulative hours per month across Instagram and Facebook for users under 18 — equivalent to approximately three hours per day.
Meta, which owns and operates Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp and Threads, said it disagrees with the decision and intends to appeal.
“We disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” a Meta spokesperson said.
The company said it works to keep users safe on its platforms and has been transparent about the difficulties involved in identifying and removing harmful content and bad actors. Meta said it remains confident in its record of protecting teenagers online and will continue defending itself against allegations it says misrepresent the facts.
Meta had also announced plans to appeal the earlier $375 million verdict. That decision marked the first time a U.S. state had successfully sued the company over child safety issues.
The company is currently facing thousands of lawsuits across the United States involving similar allegations. Earlier this year, Meta also lost a case in Los Angeles involving similar claims.
The New Mexico ruling also appears to mark the first time a social media company has been legally deemed a “public nuisance.”
Another major case against Meta is set to begin next week in California, where nearly three dozen U.S. state attorneys general are suing the company over alleged violations of child privacy laws.