Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million and Change Facebook and Instagram Safeguards for Children
A New Mexico judge added the award to a previous $375 million civil penalty after finding that Meta’s platforms harmed young users and failed to protect them adequately.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million for programmes addressing harms to children linked to Facebook and Instagram, while requiring new safeguards for young users in the state.
The ruling, issued by Judge Bryan Biedscheid in the second phase of New Mexico’s case against the company, follows a March jury verdict that found Meta had knowingly harmed children’s mental health, concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation and violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
The new award is separate from the $375 million in civil penalties imposed by the jury, bringing Meta’s total liability in the case to $942 million.
Of the latest amount, $420 million is intended for treatment services for young people.
The remainder is to support prevention, screening, awareness efforts and related costs over five years.
Biedscheid also ordered a set of changes for Facebook and Instagram users in New Mexico who are under 18. The measures include a limit of 90 hours of use a month, restrictions on artificial-intelligence chatbots, recurring warnings about mental-health risks, default hiding of public like counts on minors’ accounts and stronger separation between minors and adults who are not connected to them.
Adults who do not follow or have a connection with a minor would be barred from messaging that child, and Meta would be prohibited from recommending a child’s account to such adults.
The court directed Meta to improve its age-assurance systems, including tools that use signals from a user’s activity and network to estimate age.
It ordered the company to seek proof of age from New Mexico users it estimates are under 13, to treat uncertain users as minors until age is verified, and to work toward a dedicated model for identifying likely under-13 users within two years.
Meta must also create a reporting portal with schools or a child-safety organisation and delete personal information collected from users it determines are under 13.
The judge did not order Meta to remove infinite scroll, autoplay or algorithmic recommendations, despite arguments that those features can encourage compulsive use.
The ruling said imposing restrictions on Meta alone, while competing platforms retain the same design features, could be inequitable.
Federal children’s privacy law also limited the court’s ability to compel direct age verification from younger children.
The case grew from an investigation by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who accused Meta of misleading users about safety, enabling child sexual exploitation and putting engagement ahead of young people’s welfare.
Meta said it works to protect users, called the claims a misrepresentation of the facts and said it would appeal.
The order applies only in New Mexico and does not set an immediate nationwide rule.
But it arrives as Meta faces lawsuits from states, school districts and families across the United States over allegations that its platform design contributes to a youth mental-health crisis.
The company must submit compliance reports to the court twice a year as the New Mexico remedies are reviewed.
The ruling, issued by Judge Bryan Biedscheid in the second phase of New Mexico’s case against the company, follows a March jury verdict that found Meta had knowingly harmed children’s mental health, concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation and violated the state’s Unfair Practices Act.
The new award is separate from the $375 million in civil penalties imposed by the jury, bringing Meta’s total liability in the case to $942 million.
Of the latest amount, $420 million is intended for treatment services for young people.
The remainder is to support prevention, screening, awareness efforts and related costs over five years.
Biedscheid also ordered a set of changes for Facebook and Instagram users in New Mexico who are under 18. The measures include a limit of 90 hours of use a month, restrictions on artificial-intelligence chatbots, recurring warnings about mental-health risks, default hiding of public like counts on minors’ accounts and stronger separation between minors and adults who are not connected to them.
Adults who do not follow or have a connection with a minor would be barred from messaging that child, and Meta would be prohibited from recommending a child’s account to such adults.
The court directed Meta to improve its age-assurance systems, including tools that use signals from a user’s activity and network to estimate age.
It ordered the company to seek proof of age from New Mexico users it estimates are under 13, to treat uncertain users as minors until age is verified, and to work toward a dedicated model for identifying likely under-13 users within two years.
Meta must also create a reporting portal with schools or a child-safety organisation and delete personal information collected from users it determines are under 13.
The judge did not order Meta to remove infinite scroll, autoplay or algorithmic recommendations, despite arguments that those features can encourage compulsive use.
The ruling said imposing restrictions on Meta alone, while competing platforms retain the same design features, could be inequitable.
Federal children’s privacy law also limited the court’s ability to compel direct age verification from younger children.
The case grew from an investigation by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who accused Meta of misleading users about safety, enabling child sexual exploitation and putting engagement ahead of young people’s welfare.
Meta said it works to protect users, called the claims a misrepresentation of the facts and said it would appeal.
The order applies only in New Mexico and does not set an immediate nationwide rule.
But it arrives as Meta faces lawsuits from states, school districts and families across the United States over allegations that its platform design contributes to a youth mental-health crisis.
The company must submit compliance reports to the court twice a year as the New Mexico remedies are reviewed.