Meta must pay a total of $942 million to address harm caused to children on its platforms, a New Mexico judge ruled Thursday.
A jury in March found Meta liable for failing to protect kids and approved a $375 million fine. New Mexico state Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued a ruling Thursday ordering the company to pay an additional $567 million and to make changes to its platforms to make them safer for kids. The judge said the money was to be put into an abatement fund, with most of it, $420 million, to go toward treatment services.
Among the changes, Meta must strengthen age verification in New Mexico, limit users under 18 in the state to a combined 90 hours a month on Facebook and Instagram, turn off most push notifications for minors overnight and during school hours, and hide “like” counts by default unless a parent or guardian allows them to be shown.
“This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world’s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence,” New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a statement following the ruling. “Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online.”
In a separate statement, Torrez called the ruling a “blueprint” for holding social media companies liable for products that endanger children.
“Now other states, and other countries confronting the same crisis, have a roadmap they can follow,” Torrez said.
Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal.
“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement to Business Insider. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
