What did the New Mexico court order Meta to do?

A New Mexico judge ordered Meta Platforms to pay 567 million dollars and overhaul how Facebook and Instagram operate for young users in the state, capping the second phase of a landmark trial over the company’s social media practices. Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta’s platforms are a significant contributing factor to a youth mental health crisis in New Mexico, bringing the company’s total New Mexico penalties to 942 million dollars when combined with an earlier jury verdict.

How will the 567 million dollar penalty be used?

The bulk of the funds, 420 million dollars, will go toward treatment services for young people harmed by the platforms. The remaining money is earmarked for awareness and prevention programs, screening and assessment services, referral coordination, and related implementation costs over the next five years. The judge structured the payment as an abatement fund rather than a standard fine, directing the money specifically toward addressing the harms identified during the trial.

What triggered this second phase of the case?

The ruling follows a March jury verdict that found Meta violated New Mexico’s consumer protection law by misleading users about platform safety and enabling child sexual exploitation, resulting in 375 million dollars in civil penalties at that stage. The second phase, which did not involve a jury, focused specifically on whether Meta’s platforms constituted a public nuisance under state law, with prosecutors pushing for structural changes to the company’s products rather than payment alone.

What operational changes has Meta been ordered to make?

Beyond the financial penalty, the court ordered Meta to remove visible like counts for minors and require parental approval before showing such metrics to users under 18. Push notifications to underage users in the state must now pause between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m., and youth usage is to be capped at roughly 90 hours per month, or about three hours daily. The judge noted that Meta’s WhatsApp was excluded from the public nuisance finding, since predatory content and behavior were not found to be algorithmically recommended to adolescents on that platform.

How have officials and the company responded?

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, who brought the lawsuit, called the ruling a victory for families and children, saying it sends a clear message that companies will be held accountable for product designs that put children at risk. Meta said it works hard to keep users safe and has been transparent about the challenges of identifying harmful content, while confirming it plans to appeal the ruling.

Why does this case matter beyond New Mexico?

The ruling adds to a growing wave of litigation against Meta, which faces thousands of additional lawsuits nationwide from families alleging social media addiction and related harms, including a consolidated case involving dozens of states in federal court. Legal analysts have described the wave of rulings against major platforms this year as social media’s version of the tobacco industry’s reckoning decades earlier, with this case seen as an early test of how far courts will go in forcing product level changes rather than financial penalties alone.

This story is ongoing. FOU News will continue to follow developments as authorities and the courts release new information.