SANTA FE: Meta Lawsuit reached a major turning point on Thursday after a New Mexico state court ordered the social media giant to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund and implement sweeping safety measures for young users of Facebook and Instagram.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta created a public nuisance in New Mexico by designing products that harmed children’s wellbeing. The decision sided with Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who accused the company of encouraging addictive platform use and failing to adequately protect minors from online exploitation.

The latest judgment follows an earlier jury verdict five months ago that ordered Meta to pay $375 million after finding the company misrepresented the safety of its platforms for young users.

Court Orders Major Safety Reforms

The court directed Meta to introduce several youth protection measures that will remain in effect for five years.

Among the required changes are monthly usage limits for teenagers, stricter notification controls, stronger safeguards against contact between adults and minors, additional protections for AI chatbots and enhanced reviews of reports involving child sexual abuse.

Furthermore, Judge Biedscheid ordered Meta to prevent children in New Mexico from engaging in romantic or sexualised conversations with the company’s AI chatbots. The ruling also bars adults from using the chatbots to simulate or discuss sexual interactions involving children.

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Meta Plans to Appeal

Meta said it will appeal the decision and defended its efforts to protect young users.

The company stated that it continues to invest in identifying harmful content and improving safety features across its platforms. It also argued that the lawsuit misrepresented the facts surrounding its youth protection policies.

During the trial, Meta maintained that it could not be held responsible under public nuisance laws because it had not interfered with a traditional public right such as clean air or water.

The company also argued that many of the requested changes would be technologically difficult to implement and could even force it to withdraw services from New Mexico.

Landmark Decision May Influence Other Cases

Attorney General Raúl Torrez welcomed the ruling, saying Meta had prioritised profits over child safety.

He described the decision as the first court order requiring a major social media company to make broad changes specifically aimed at protecting children. According to Torrez, the judgment could serve as a model for other states and countries pursuing similar legal action.

More than 40 US states and over 1,300 school districts have filed lawsuits against social media companies, seeking damages and demanding stronger safeguards for children.

Meanwhile, Judge Biedscheid rejected Meta’s argument that Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act shielded the company from liability. He ruled that the case challenged Meta’s platform design and features rather than user-generated content.

However, the judge declined to order changes to features such as infinite scroll and autoplay, finding that those remedies could raise constitutional concerns and affect Meta’s competitive position.

The ruling comes just days before Meta is scheduled to face another major trial in California involving claims from 29 states that Facebook and Instagram were intentionally designed to addict children while misleading users about their safety.