New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $567m Over Harms to Children

The ruling

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Facebook, to pay $567m into a fund aimed at redressing adverse mental health impacts caused by its platforms, the Guardian reported on 6 August. The ruling forms part of the second phase of a landmark trial the company lost in March, when a jury found that it knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. That verdict carried the maximum penalty available — a $375m fine. Thursday's order adds to it, bringing the total Meta is responsible for to $942m.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money, $420m, would be used for treatment services for young people in New Mexico. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

Background

The March trial was the first to find Meta liable for acts committed on its platform. It followed a 2023 Guardian investigation that revealed how Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking. Several former Meta moderators told the Guardian that they had flagged harmful content related to child grooming in some instances, but the cases were not escalated.

Changes ordered

In the second phase of the trial, which began in May, prosecutors 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.

The judge also ordered other changes, including that Facebook and Instagram build banner and informational screens that clearly explain their protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comments. Those changes, along with an educational campaign in New Mexico, would be subject to review by the state.

The court said federal children's privacy laws prevent Meta from applying age-verification tools to children under 13. It also noted that ordering age verification only for Meta and not other social media companies would be inequitable and unduly injurious to the company. Instead, the court ordered Meta to continue improving its age-assurance tools in New Mexico, which include the use of artificial intelligence to determine users' ages.