New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harm to youths

After this latest ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money, $420m, will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go towards awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.

Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.

Meta said it will appeal the ruling and that it has been working to identify and remove harmful content from its platforms.

“We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts,” the company said in a statement.

The judge had heard three weeks of testimony during the second trial over the lawsuit, which did not involve a jury. It focused solely on whether Meta’s platforms created a “public nuisance” under New Mexico law.

The case is being closely watched across the US as states, municipalities and school districts  pursue similar claims seeking to force changes at the industry level.