New Mexico Judge Orders Meta to Pay $567 Million Over Child Harms

A New Mexico judge imposed a $567 million penalty on Meta Platforms in the second phase of a trial over harms to children from Facebook and Instagram, finding the platforms a public nuisance, according to Associated Press and Washington Post reporting carried by KIRO 7. Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote that “Meta’s platforms create a public nuisance because their purpose and effect is to optimize engagement.”

Of the total, $420 million is for treatment services, with the rest for awareness, prevention and screening over five years. The second phase also addressed changes to addictive features, better age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation. Jurors had earlier ordered $375 million in civil penalties. The coverage we read is a single wire-service report and was not independently confirmed elsewhere.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez called the decision “a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child.” Meta said it will appeal and “remain[s] confident in our record of protecting teens online.” Separately, Meta faces a federal trial in California, where the first four of 29 states suing over its alleged contribution to the youth mental health crisis are set to go first, the report said.