Additional Coverage:
- Court orders Instagram and Facebook’s Meta to pay $567M to address kids’ mental health online (npr.org)
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to pay $567 million to address the harm its platforms have caused young users. This ruling marks the second phase of a landmark trial focusing on the impact of social media on children’s well-being.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid announced late Thursday that $420 million of the penalty will be allocated for treatment services aimed at young people, while the remaining funds will support awareness campaigns, prevention efforts, screening services, and related costs over the next five years.
This new financial penalty adds to the $375 million in civil fines imposed on Meta earlier in March, after jurors found the company had knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Prosecutors urged the court to mandate fundamental changes at Meta, including limiting addictive features, enhancing age verification, and strengthening protections against child exploitation through default privacy settings and increased oversight.
While the total $942 million penalty is significant, it represents a small portion of Meta’s 2025 annual profit of approximately $60 billion. Following the announcement, Meta’s stock dipped slightly by less than half a percent, closing at $589.44 in after-hours trading.
Despite the relatively modest financial impact, the ruling signals a growing challenge for Meta, which is confronting numerous lawsuits filed by families of children affected by social media.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez emphasized the ruling’s importance, stating it sends a clear message that companies will be held accountable when their product designs knowingly put children at risk. “Today’s decision is a victory for every parent concerned about social media’s impact on their child, and for every child who deserves to grow up safer online,” Torrez said.
Meta has announced plans to appeal the decision. In a statement, the company asserted, “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
Changes to Meta’s Platforms Ordered
The court directed Facebook and Instagram to implement banner and informational screens to clearly explain their protection features, best practices, and tools for addressing inappropriate comments. These displays will be shown regularly, supported by an educational campaign in New Mexico subject to state oversight.
However, the court acknowledged federal privacy laws, specifically the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), restrict Meta from requiring personal data submissions or passive tracking for children under 13, even for age verification purposes. Furthermore, singling out Meta alone for stringent age verification would be “inequitable and unduly injurious” compared to other social media companies.
Instead, Meta must continue improving its age assurance tools in New Mexico, including the use of artificial intelligence to estimate users’ ages based on friend networks and content. The company is also required to develop a specialized “under-13” age prediction model within two years.
Meta must request age verification from Instagram and Facebook users it estimates to be under 13 in New Mexico. If age cannot be specifically determined for users under 18, those accounts must be treated as underage until verified.
Additionally, Meta will collaborate with schools and child safety organizations to create a reporting portal, enabling school staff to flag suspected under-13 users. The company must also delete personal information collected on users under 13 and submit biannual progress reports on these measures.
Ongoing Legal Battles
Meta is preparing for a federal trial later this month in Oakland, California, where it faces lawsuits from four states accusing the company of contributing to a youth mental health crisis by deliberately designing addictive features on Instagram and Facebook. In addition, eight states, including Tennessee, are pursuing similar cases in their own courts.
Recently, families of four teenagers who died by suicide filed lawsuits against Meta, TikTok, Snap, and YouTube, alleging prolonged harm stemming from their platforms.
Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University specializing in social media and cybersecurity, described the New Mexico ruling as just the first domino in a series of legal challenges for Meta. “America is not going to pass a law banning social media,” she said. “But if companies like Meta know they’re causing harm through product design, states are finally finding ways to hold them accountable.”