A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund supporting teen mental health and impose new safety measures for young users after ruling that the company’s social media platforms harmed children.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the state court in Santa Fe found that Meta created a public nuisance in New Mexico, siding with Democratic Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who accused the company of designing Facebook and Instagram to keep young users engaged while failing to adequately protect them from sexual exploitation.
The ruling follows an earlier jury decision five months ago that ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding that the company violated consumer protection laws by misrepresenting the safety of its platforms for young users.
Under the latest order, Meta must introduce a series of youth-safety measures over the next five years. These include monthly limits on teenagers’ use of Facebook and Instagram, restrictions on notifications, stronger controls over contact between adults and minors, safeguards for artificial intelligence chatbots and improved handling of reports involving child sexual abuse.
Torrez said the decision showed that social media companies could be held responsible for the effects of their products on children and families.
“This is not just a judgment against one company. It is a blueprint,” Torrez said, arguing that other governments could follow the approach.
Meta said it would appeal the ruling and defended its record on protecting teenagers online. The company said it had continued efforts to identify and remove harmful material from its platforms.
The case is part of a growing legal campaign against major social media companies. More than 40 states and over 1,300 school districts in the United States have filed public nuisance lawsuits seeking financial damages and changes to online services.
The New Mexico case also examined concerns about the use of artificial intelligence chatbots. The judge ordered Meta to prevent children in the state from engaging in romantic or sexualised conversations with its chatbots. Adults must also be prevented from using the systems to simulate or discuss sexualised interactions involving children.
Meta argued that the lawsuit was barred by federal protections for online platforms and challenged the requested changes as technically difficult. The judge rejected the company’s argument that the case was protected by Section 230, finding that the state was challenging Meta’s platform design rather than seeking to hold the company responsible for content posted by users.
However, Biedscheid declined to impose some proposed changes to algorithms and features such as infinite scrolling and autoplay, citing constitutional and legal concerns.
Meta is also facing a federal trial in California brought by 29 states over claims that Facebook and Instagram were designed to encourage addictive use among children. The company is separately defending a lawsuit brought by Tennessee.
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