New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567 million, overhaul child safety measures

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to pay an additional $567 million and implement significant child safety measures, bringing its total liability in the case to $942 million. This ruling follows a jury's determination that Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Judge Bryan Biedscheid mandated fundamental changes, including reducing addictive features, improving age verification, and preventing child sexual exploitation. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez stated, "They have not shown any willingness to either accept responsibility for their conduct or concede they have a role to play in fixing and addressing the harms that they created." Meta plans to appeal the decision, asserting, "We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts." The ruling allocates $420 million for youth treatment services, with the remainder for awareness, prevention, and screening over five years.