Meta must pay $567 million to fund youth mental health treatment and safety programs in New Mexico, following a ruling by Judge Bryan Biedscheid. The penalty follows a March jury verdict finding the company liable for child harms, bringing Meta’s total financial exposure in the state case to $942 million.
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million in the second phase of a landmark child safety trial, directing the funds toward youth treatment services, prevention programs, and school reporting portals. The new financial penalty sits on top of a $375 million civil penalty awarded by a jury earlier this year after jurors determined the company knowingly harmed children’s mental health and exposed them to online predators.
New Mexico Court Orders $420 Million for Youth Treatment Services
Under the court order, the bulk of the newly mandated funds—totaling $420 million—will go directly toward treatment services for young people across the state. The remaining balance of the abatement fund will cover awareness and prevention initiatives, screening services, and teacher safety training administered through community health centers and schools. During the trial proceedings, Judge Biedscheid noted that the state faces a shortage of mental health programs necessary to support youth impacted by social media platforms.
In his ruling, the judge compared the operations of digital platforms to industrial manufacturing, writing that the psychological harm and exploitation occurring on Meta’s apps act as a form of pollution that extends far beyond the screen. migrate to the internet as a whole and, perhaps most concerning, to the real world,
the judge wrote regarding the wider societal impact of these digital products.
Mandated Product Restrictions and Age Assurance Tools
Beyond financial penalties, the court order implements strict operational changes for Instagram and Facebook users under the age of 18 in New Mexico. Meta must enforce private-by-default account settings, restrict minor accounts from appearing in general search results without a username, and prevent unconnected adults from messaging underage users. The platform is also required to hide like counts for underage users and enforce a mandatory usage time cap limiting teens to 90 hours per month across both applications.
Furthermore, Meta must disable push notifications for minors between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. daily, as well as during school hours from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. on weekdays during the academic year. The court exempted WhatsApp from these nuisance-abatement measures, finding that predators and harmful content are not actively recommended to adolescents on that messaging service.
To address age verification constraints under federal children’s privacy regulations, the court ruled that the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prevents Meta from forcing users under 13 to submit personal tracking data for identity checks. Instead, the tech giant must improve its artificial intelligence age-assurance models and attempt to build a dedicated under-13 prediction model within the next two years.
State Enforcement and Corporate Appeal Strategy
The litigation originated from an investigation launched by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who filed suit in 2023 following an undercover operation involving a simulated profile of a 13-year-old girl that was quickly targeted by solicitations from abusers. Torrez praised the outcome as a necessary check on corporate profit models.
Meta immediately pushed back against the decision, confirming its intention to contest the outcome in higher courts. A company spokesperson emphasized ongoing efforts to secure user safety.
The total financial liability of $942 million—combining the $375 million civil penalty and the $567 million abatement fund—represents a fraction of Meta’s broader financial standing, which recorded about $60 billion in annual profit for 2025. Investors showed little immediate reaction, with Meta’s stock dipping less than half a percent to $589.44 during after-hours trading following the announcement.
Wider Legal Landscape Across US Jurisdictions
The New Mexico ruling arrives as Meta prepares for additional courtroom battles over youth safety. Legal experts have increasingly compared the mounting litigation against social media companies to the historic “Big Tobacco” lawsuits of the 1990s.
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