In a major development, the verdict of the Meta New Mexico child safety case has come out. The New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund addressing harm to young people. Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta’s platforms created a public nuisance under state law and ordered the company to introduce new protections for children and teenagers. But Meta has rejected the ruling and plans to appeal.
This Meta child safety verdict comes five months after a jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million for violating New Mexico’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users. Together, the two rulings bring the Meta New Mexico case penalty to $942 million.
Meta Youth Safety Lawsuit Verdict Brings New Platform Restrictions
The Meta youth safety lawsuit also resulted in a five-year decree requiring changes to how Meta’s platforms operate for younger users.
Key measures included in the Meta child safety verdict:
- A mandatory 90-hour monthly usage limit across Facebook and Instagram for users under 18, equivalent to roughly three hours a day.
- Restrictions on push notifications overnight and during typical school hours.
- Removal of “like” counts for users under 18.
- Tighter controls on communication between adults and minors.
- Restrictions on adult accounts being recommended to users under 18.
- Additional safeguards involving child sexual exploitation and reports of child sexual abuse.
- Protections preventing minors from engaging in romantic or sexualized interactions with Meta’s AI chatbots.
The Meta New Mexico child safety case order also requires Meta to improve age-assurance tools in New Mexico and develop a system designed to identify users who may be under 13. Schools and child-safety organizations may also be involved in reporting suspected underage accounts.
What Is the Meta Teen Mental Health Fund?
The New Mexico judiciary has ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund. The $567 million teen mental health fund is intended to help address the effects identified during the case rather than simply serve as a financial penalty.
About $420 million of the Meta teen mental health fund will support treatment for people harmed by Meta’s platforms. The remaining fund money will support areas including:
- Mental-health awareness and prevention
- Screening and assessment
- Referrals and coordination of care
- Quality improvement and program evaluation
- Training and prevention efforts involving teachers and healthcare professionals
Meta New Mexico child safety case ruling recognizes that digital harms affecting young people can extend beyond individual users and place additional pressure on families, schools, behavioral-health professionals and other public services.
Meta Plans to Appeal Child Safety Verdict
Meta has rejected the New Mexico child safety ruling and said it will appeal. The company maintains that it works to protect users and remove harmful content and said it remains confident in its record of protecting teenagers.
In the Meta New Mexico child safety case, the judge also rejected some of New Mexico’s requested remedies. Meta was not ordered to change its algorithms or discontinue end-to-end encryption, with the court citing First Amendment and federal legal protections. Meta’s appeal could determine how much of the ruling ultimately stands.
The Meta New Mexico Child Safety Case Timeline
The Meta New Mexico child safety case began with a 2023 lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez. The state accused Meta of designing its platforms in ways that encouraged addictive use among young people and failed to adequately protect children from sexual exploitation and other harmful interactions.
In March 2026, a New Mexican jury found Meta liable under the state’s Unfair Practices Act. Evidence presented during that phase included internal company documents and testimony from former employees, educators, law enforcement officials and child-safety experts.
The second phase of the Meta New Mexico child safety case focused on whether Meta’s conduct amounted to a public nuisance, creating widespread harm to public health or safety.
In this Meta New Mexico child safety case, Judge Biedscheid concluded that Meta’s platforms contributed significantly to the youth mental-health crisis in New Mexico. The court also considered testimony from healthcare professionals and evidence concerning the state’s limited mental-health resources for young people.
Meta Public Nuisance Ruling Could Influence Other Cases
The Meta public nuisance ruling could have implications beyond New Mexico. More than 40 states and over 1,300 school districts have pursued public-nuisance lawsuits against social-media companies, seeking financial damages and changes to platform practices.
If other courts adopt similar reasoning, social-media companies could face greater pressure to demonstrate that their products adequately protect young users.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez described the judgment as a potential “blueprint” for other governments addressing youth safety online.
