A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address youth mental health concerns related to its platforms. This ruling follows a previous $375 million civil penalty issued in March after a jury concluded the company knowingly compromised children's safety and obscured its awareness of child sexual exploitation on Facebook and Instagram.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid mandated that $420 million of the total will be directed toward mental health treatment services. The remaining funds are allocated for prevention efforts, screening tools, and long-term oversight over the next five years. Meta must also implement specific structural changes, including banner notifications on its apps and the development of age-assurance technology to identify users under 13.
While the combined $942 million total represents a small percentage of Meta’s annual profits, this decision creates a significant legal precedent. State-level actions are increasingly targeting how product design affects minors, moving beyond the reach of federal regulations that currently limit some forms of direct age verification. Meta has announced its intent to appeal the ruling.
The case is part of a broader wave of legal scrutiny facing the company. Multiple states are pursuing similar litigation, and federal trials are set to begin later this month in California regarding social media addiction claims. These cases collectively argue that tech giants prioritized engagement features at the expense of user wellbeing.