A New Mexico court has mandated that Meta pay $567 million into a fund to mitigate the mental health impacts its social media platforms allegedly have on children. This decision follows a jury’s March ruling that held Meta accountable for knowingly harming children’s mental health and inadequately addressing child sexual exploitation on its platforms. With this recent court order, Meta’s total financial obligation in this case has climbed to $942 million.
The court’s ruling allocates $420 million of the awarded funds to mental health treatment services for young people in New Mexico. The remaining amount will be used to support programs focused on prevention, awareness, screening services, and other initiatives over the next five years. Additionally, the court has directed Meta to enhance child-safety measures on Facebook and Instagram, requiring the company to improve age-assurance systems, offer clearer information on safety and privacy tools, and develop methods to identify underage users.
Meta is also required to collaborate with schools or child-safety organizations to establish a system for reporting accounts suspected of belonging to children under the age of 13. The company must delete any personal information collected from users under this age and is obliged to provide biannual progress reports on its compliance with the court’s directives. However, the court declined to enforce universal age verification specifically in New Mexico, citing concerns about fairness and existing federal privacy protections for children.
Despite the ruling, Meta plans to appeal, arguing that it is committed to protecting users and has already taken steps to address harmful content and online safety issues. The case adds to the mounting legal challenges Meta faces over claims that its platforms can negatively impact young users. Similar lawsuits are underway in other states across the United States.