A New Mexico court has mandated Meta to contribute $567 million to a fund designed to mitigate the mental health impacts purportedly inflicted on children by its social media platforms. This decision builds on a jury ruling from March which determined that Meta knowingly played a role in harming children’s mental health and did not sufficiently tackle child sexual exploitation on its platforms. With this latest judgment, Meta’s total financial liability in the case now stands at $942 million.
Out of the $567 million specified in the recent ruling, $420 million is allocated for mental health treatment services targeting young individuals in New Mexico. The remaining funds are earmarked for prevention and awareness initiatives, as well as screening services and other related measures over a five-year span. In addition to the financial penalties, the court has instructed Meta to enhance child-safety protocols on both Facebook and Instagram.
The improvements Meta must implement include refining age-assurance systems, offering clearer guidance on safety and privacy tools, and devising ways to identify users who might be under the age of 13. Furthermore, Meta is required to collaborate with schools or child-safety organizations to establish a system for reporting accounts suspected to belong to children under 13. The company is also tasked with deleting personal data collected from users below this age threshold and must submit biannual progress reports on its adherence to the court’s directives.
However, the court refrained from imposing a requirement for universal age verification exclusively in New Mexico, citing fairness issues and existing federal privacy protections for children as concerns. Meta has rejected the court’s ruling and announced its intention to appeal, asserting that the company is committed to user safety and has already taken steps to address harmful content and online safety issues.
This case adds to the mounting legal challenges Meta faces over accusations that its platforms can have detrimental effects on young users. Similar lawsuits are currently in progress in other states across the United States.