Meta Ordered to Pay $567 Million for Alleged Social Media Harms to Children

A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, to pay $567 million into a fund intended to address alleged harms to children and teenagers who use its social media platforms. The August 2026 ruling follows a jury verdict finding that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and comes as the company faces numerous social media lawsuits across the country alleging that its platforms have contributed to mental health and child safety problems among young users.

New Mexico Court Finds Meta Contributed to Youth Mental Health Crisis

In his decision, New Mexico First Judicial District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid concluded that Meta’s platforms substantially contributed to what he described as a youth mental health crisis in the state. The judge found that Meta’s social media platforms created a public nuisance in New Mexico because their design and operation contributed to alleged harms affecting children, families, schools, healthcare providers, and other public resources.

The court acknowledged that youth mental health is affected by many factors and that other social media companies may also contribute to the problem. However, it determined that Meta was a significant contributing factor based on the evidence presented during the trial.

How Much Will Meta Have to Pay?

This latest ruling against Meta adds $567 million to the financial penalties the company already faced from the New Mexico lawsuit. In March 2026, a jury found that Meta committed 75,000 violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and imposed $375 million in civil penalties. “With this verdict, New Mexico becomes the first state in the nation to prevail at trial against a major tech company for harming young people,” the New Mexico Department of Justice stated at the time.

This new $567 million order is separate from those civil penalties and will be paid into a fund intended to address alleged harms to young people in New Mexico. Together, the two amounts bring Meta’s total financial liability under the judgment to $942 million.

How the $567 Million Meta Abatement Fund Will Be Used

The court ordered Meta to deposit $567 million into an abatement fund that will be used over a five-year period to address alleged social media-related harms among young people in New Mexico. The money will be divided among several areas:

• $420 million for mental health treatment
• $90 million for screening and assessment
• $33 million for awareness and prevention
• $15 million for referrals, care connections, and coordination
• $9 million for implementation, evaluation, and quality improvement

The court determined that five years would provide enough time for New Mexico to develop and expand services intended to address existing harms and reduce the risk of additional harm to young users.

Court Orders Changes to Facebook and Instagram for Minors

The ruling against Meta goes beyond financial penalties. Judge Biedscheid also ordered the company to make several changes affecting young Facebook and Instagram users in New Mexico. Among other requirements, Meta must limit users under 18 to no more than 90 hours per month across Facebook and Instagram. The company must also turn off most push notifications for minors during overnight hours and during typical school hours on school days. For users under 18, “like” counts must be hidden by default unless a parent or guardian allows the setting to be changed. 

The court also ordered Meta to improve its systems for identifying the ages of users, take additional steps to identify accounts belonging to children under 13, and establish reporting procedures that schools can use to flag suspected underage accounts. Additional requirements address artificial intelligence chatbots. Meta must prevent New Mexico users under 18 from having romantic or sexualized interactions with its AI chatbots. 

The court did not order Meta to change its recommendation algorithms. Judge Biedscheid concluded that the state’s requested restrictions in that area could interfere with how content is displayed and raise First Amendment and Section 230 concerns.

Meta Plans to Appeal the New Mexico Judgment

Meta has said it disagrees with the judgment and plans to appeal. The company has maintained that it has invested in tools designed to protect young users on social media and has disputed allegations that its platforms are responsible for the harms described by New Mexico. The appeal means the litigation is not necessarily over despite the jury verdict and final judgment at the trial court level.

Meta Faces Broader Litigation Over Social Media and Child Safety

The New Mexico lawsuit is part of a much larger legal dispute over how social media platforms affect children and teenagers. Meta and other technology companies have faced lawsuits from states, school districts, families, and individuals alleging that social media products were designed in ways that encourage excessive use or expose young people to harmful content.

Those lawsuits generally involve allegations concerning issues such as compulsive platform use, mental health effects, child sexual exploitation, age verification, and representations companies allegedly made about the safety of their products.

The New Mexico judgment is significant because it combines substantial financial penalties with specific requirements governing how Meta operates Facebook and Instagram for young users in the state.

What the Meta Ruling Could Mean for Social Media Lawsuits

The New Mexico judgment adds to growing legal scrutiny of how social media companies design and operate platforms used by children. Meta intends to challenge the ruling, so its ultimate legal effect may depend on what happens during the appeal. At the same time, other social media lawsuits continue to raise similar allegations about youth mental health, platform design, and child safety.

For now, the New Mexico ruling represents one of the most substantial judgments against a social media company involving alleged harms to young users, with $942 million in combined financial liability and court-ordered changes affecting how minors use Facebook and Instagram in the state.