A New Mexico state judge ordered Meta Platforms on Thursday to pay $567 million into an abatement fund and make specific changes to how Facebook and Instagram operate for users under 18 in the state, after finding the company’s platforms created a public nuisance that contributed to a youth mental health crisis.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the First Judicial District Court in Santa Fe ruled that Meta’s platforms are a significant contributing cause of harms including higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders, and risks related to sexual exploitation among New Mexico youth. He compared the platforms to a factory whose “pollution” is psychological harm and exploitation that must be abated.
The $567 million is in addition to $375 million in civil penalties a jury awarded earlier in the case for violations of the state’s Unfair Practices Act, bringing Meta’s total exposure in the New Mexico litigation to $942 million. Of the new amount, approximately $420 million is designated for treatment programs, with smaller portions for awareness and prevention, screening, referrals, and oversight, over a five-year period.
Ordered measures applicable in New Mexico include monthly usage limits of about 90 hours for under-18 users, restrictions on push notifications (including overnight and school-hour bans with limited exceptions), private-by-default settings, limits on adult messaging and recommendations involving under-18 accounts, enhanced age-assurance efforts, and other safeguards such as restrictions related to nudity and AI chatbot interactions with minors. The order does not apply to WhatsApp and does not require certain broader algorithmic changes sought by the state.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who brought the 2023 lawsuit, described the outcome as holding the company accountable for practices that endangered young people. Meta said it disagrees with the ruling, remains confident in its record of protecting teens online, and will appeal. The company has argued that its platforms are not uniquely responsible, that it invests in safety tools, and that some proposed changes raise technological or legal issues including under Section 230.
The ruling applies specifically to New Mexico and follows a two-phase trial. Similar public-nuisance and related claims against social media companies are pending in other jurisdictions.
SOURCES: BBC, Reuters, Associated Press, The Verge, New Mexico Department of Justice, Albuquerque Journal
