Meta has been ordered to pay $567 million after a New Mexico court found that Facebook and Instagram created a public nuisance linked to harm suffered by young people, adding a major new legal setback for the social media giant and forcing changes to how its platforms operate for minors.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the ruling in Santa Fe during the second phase of New Mexico’s case against Meta. The decision matters because it goes beyond compensation: the court also ordered youth-safety measures covering age assurance, notifications, adult contact with minors, AI tools and the handling of child exploitation reports.

Meta says it will appeal and continues to defend its record on teen safety.

Why Meta was ordered to pay $567 million

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez accused Meta of designing Facebook and Instagram in ways that encouraged excessive use among young people while failing to adequately protect children from harmful content and sexual exploitation.

The court found Meta’s platforms created a public nuisance under state law. In practical terms, that means the judge concluded the alleged harm affected the wider community rather than only individual users.

According to Associated Press reporting on the court order, $420 million of the $567 million is earmarked for treatment services for young people. The remaining money is intended for awareness, prevention, screening and related costs over five years.

How the $567 million ruling differs from the earlier $375 million verdict

The latest payment is separate from a $375 million civil penalty imposed in March 2026.

In that earlier phase, a jury found that Meta violated New Mexico’s consumer protection law after determining that the company had misrepresented the safety of Facebook and Instagram for younger users.

The second phase focused specifically on the public nuisance claim and was decided by Judge Biedscheid rather than a jury.

Together, the two rulings put Meta’s liability in the New Mexico case at approximately $942 million, although the company is challenging the decisions on appeal.

What Facebook and Instagram must change

The court ordered Meta to make several changes aimed at reducing risks to young users in New Mexico.

Facebook and Instagram must display clearer educational screens explaining safety tools, protection features and ways users can respond to inappropriate interactions. Meta must also continue improving its age-assurance technology, including systems that use account signals and artificial intelligence to estimate whether a user may be a minor.

The company has been directed to develop a more specific age-prediction model for users who may be under 13 and to request proof of age when its systems identify accounts that appear to belong to children.

Meta must also work with schools or child-safety organisations to create a reporting portal allowing staff to flag suspected under-13 accounts and must delete personal information collected from users confirmed to be under 13.

The court also requires Meta to submit compliance reports twice a year during the five-year remedy period.

Why teen safety remains a wider issue for Meta

Meta has introduced Teen Accounts, parental controls and other restrictions intended to give younger Instagram users a more protected experience. Recent changes to Instagram’s sharing features and Teen Account protections show how those safeguards are increasingly being built into new products rather than offered only as optional settings.

The New Mexico case, however, raises a broader question: whether voluntary safety measures introduced by technology companies are enough when courts believe aspects of product design continue to expose children to risk.

Concerns over moderation and dangerous content have also followed Meta outside this case. A separate lawsuit alleging problems with Meta’s handling of harmful content and exploitation-related posts has added to scrutiny of how Facebook and Instagram enforce their safety rules.

Why age verification is complicated

The judge stopped short of ordering Meta to simply collect identification from every child. Federal children’s privacy law limits how companies can collect personal data from users under 13, creating a tension between verifying a child’s age and protecting that child’s privacy.

Instead, the ruling focuses on improving Meta’s existing age-assurance systems and treating accounts conservatively when the company believes they belong to minors but cannot establish an exact age.

This is likely to remain a major issue for the wider social media industry as governments demand stronger child-safety measures without creating new privacy risks.

What Meta says and what happens next

Meta has confirmed that it will appeal. The company says it works extensively to identify harmful content, remove bad actors and provide protections for teenagers, while arguing that the New Mexico case misrepresents its safety record.

The ruling does not automatically impose the same requirements on every Facebook or Instagram user in the United States. It arises from a New Mexico state case and is primarily aimed at users and operations covered by that jurisdiction.

Its significance is broader, however. Meta faces additional litigation in California and other states over allegations involving youth mental health, addictive product design and child safety.

For parents and young users, the case shows that regulators and courts are increasingly examining the mechanics of social platforms — including recommendation systems, age checks, notifications, messaging controls and AI-powered interactions — rather than focusing only on individual pieces of harmful content.

The appeal will determine whether the $567 million remedy and the ordered platform changes survive in their current form. Until then, New Mexico’s decision stands as one of the clearest examples of a court attempting to turn concerns about youth social media harm into enforceable product and safety requirements.

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