US Court Fines Meta $567 Million, Orders New Rules to Protect Teens Online

A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million and overhaul how Facebook and Instagram operate for teenagers, after finding the company created a "public nuisance" by harming children's mental health.

The ruling, issued by First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid on Thursday, comes on top of $375 million in civil penalties a jury awarded against Meta in March for violating New Mexico's Unfair Practices Act, bringing the company's total liability in the case to $942 million. Biedscheid found that Meta had intentionally used features such as endless scrolling, autoplay, notifications and content recommendations to keep teenagers on its platforms longer, contributing to higher rates of depression, anxiety, self-harm, eating disorders and suicide risk among young people.

Of the $567 million, the bulk, $420 million, will fund treatment services for young people over the next five years, with the remainder going toward awareness, prevention and screening programmes. Meta must also implement a series of safety changes for New Mexico users under 18, including capping their use of Facebook and Instagram at 90 hours a month, shutting off push notifications overnight and during school hours, tightening controls on how adults can contact minors, banning sexualised or romantic chatbot interactions with children, and blurring images suspected of containing nudity. The judge rejected some of the changes New Mexico prosecutors had sought, including alterations to Meta's core algorithms and features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, after Meta argued some requested changes were not technologically feasible and could force it to exit the state.

The case drew on internal Meta documents, previously reported by Reuters, showing the company's AI chatbots could "engage a child in conversations that are romantic or sensual," and that Meta's own head of child safety policy had warned internally against creating AI companions capable of romantic roleplay with users under 18. The judge rejected Meta's bid to dismiss the case under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which generally shields online platforms from liability over user-generated content.

Meta said in a statement it disagreed with the ruling and intends to appeal, saying it remains "confident in our record of protecting teens online." The company noted the order applies only to users in New Mexico and comes with no fixed deadline for implementation.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez called the ruling a "blueprint" for other jurisdictions pursuing similar action, and the case is one of more than 40 US states, along with over 1,300 school districts, that have filed public-nuisance lawsuits against social media companies over alleged harm to children. Meta faces a separate federal trial later this month in Oakland, California, over related claims from other plaintiffs.