New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay 567 million into teen mental health fund, ruling platform design a public nuisance, state case total now 942M
A New Mexico judge ordered Meta $META to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund, ruling its platform design created a public nuisance for young users. It follows a $375 million jury verdict five months ago, bringing the state case total to $942 million.
A judge in New Mexico has ordered Meta $META to pay $567 million into a fund for treating youth mental health harms, after ruling the company's platform design constitutes a public nuisance under state law. Santa Fe judge Bryan Biedscheid sided with state Attorney General Raul Torrez, who accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram to addict young users while failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms. Of the $567 million, $420 million is earmarked for treatment services for young people, with the remainder going toward awareness, prevention and screening programs over the next five years. The ruling comes five months after a New Mexico jury separately found Meta liable for violating consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of its platforms for young users, in a verdict that ordered $375 million in civil penalties. Combined, the two rulings bring Meta's total penalties in the New Mexico case to $942 million. New Mexico's lawsuit runs alongside a broader coalition of more than 40 state attorneys general who sued Meta in 2023 over similar allegations that its platforms were engineered to be addictive to minors.