Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million in Latest Phase of New Mexico Court Trial

A New Mexico court has compelled Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to pay $567 million to tackle the damages its platforms have caused to young users. This judgment is part of a groundbreaking trial’s second phase, with Judge Bryan Biedscheid laying out the financial allocations on Thursday.

Distribution of Funds

The majority of the funds—$420 million—will go toward treatment services for young individuals. The remaining amount will fund awareness measures, prevention efforts, screening services, and additional costs over a five-year span.

This latest penalty accompanies a previous $375 million fine imposed by jurors in March. Jurors found Meta culpable for adversely affecting children’s mental health and obscuring information about child sexual exploitation occurring on its platforms.

Prosecutors Demand Platform Changes

During the second phase, prosecutors urged substantial reforms within Meta. These changes aim to curb addictive features, enhance age verification, and thwart child sexual exploitation through default privacy adjustments and improved oversight.

The cumulative $942 million responsibility for Meta is insignificant relative to its annual profits, which reached about $60 billion in 2025. Despite the ruling, Meta’s stock experienced a minor drop, decreasing by less than half a percent to $589.44 during after-hours trading on Thursday.

Reactions to the Ruling

The decision signifies yet another setback for Meta amidst numerous lawsuits from families of children impacted by social media. According to New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, this action sends a clear message that companies will face consequences when their designs knowingly endanger children. He remarked, “Today’s decision is a victory for every parent worried about social media’s effects on their child and every child deserving a safer online environment.”

Meta intends to appeal the verdict. The company stated, “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing negative actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our track record of protecting teenagers online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims misrepresenting the facts.”

Alterations Required on Meta’s Platforms

The judge instructed Meta to incorporate banners and informational screens on Facebook and Instagram. These should clearly outline protection features, best practices, and tools to tackle inappropriate comments, and must be routinely displayed.

These changes, along with an educational campaign in New Mexico, will undergo scrutiny by the state. Federal children’s privacy regulations prevent Meta from implementing age-verification tools for children under 13 based on the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA). Consequently, they cannot request personal data from children or track them passively online for age verification.

The court noted that forcing age verification solely on Meta would be unfair and harmful to the company. Instead, it ordered Meta to enhance age assurance tools in New Mexico, utilizing artificial intelligence to ascertain a person’s age based on signals like friendships and shared content. Additionally, Meta must develop an “under-13-years-of-age prediction model” within the next two years.

Meta must also verify the ages of Instagram and Facebook users it suspects to be under 13 within New Mexico. If a user is guessed to be under 13, or under 18 without a specific age estimation, Meta should treat them as being under these ages until their age is confirmed.

The court also directed Meta to partner with schools or child safety organizations to establish a reporting portal, enabling school personnel to report suspected users under 13. Meta must erase personal information gathered from users under 13.

Twice a year, Meta is required to report progress on compliance with these abatement measures.

Upcoming Trials in California

Meta is preparing for another trial later this month in federal court in Oakland, California. This trial addresses lawsuits from four of 29 states that filed a federal multi-district lawsuit against Meta in 2023. The lawsuit alleges Meta contributed to the youth mental health crisis by intentionally designing features on Instagram and Facebook that foster addiction among children.

Eight states, including Tennessee where a trial is presently underway, pursued legal actions in their own state courts. Late last month, Meta, TikTok, Snap, and Google’s YouTube faced lawsuits from families of four teenagers who died by suicide. These families ascribe the deaths to “years of escalating harms” resulting from the use of these platforms.

Laura Edelson, an assistant professor at Northeastern University specializing in social media and cybersecurity, suggested that the New Mexico ruling initiates a series of events for Meta, stating, “America is not going to pass a law that bans social media. But if companies like Meta know they are causing harm to users through product design, states are finding a means to control this.”