Meta Ordered to Pay $567M
A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms, adding to the $375 million in civil penalties from March.
Key points
- Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, was ordered to pay $567 million by a New Mexico court.
- The payment will be used for treatment services, awareness, prevention, and screening services for young people over the next five years.
- This ruling is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties Meta was ordered to pay in March for knowingly harming children's mental health.
- The total amount, $942 million, is a small fraction of Meta's annual profit of about $60 billion in 2025.
- New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says the ruling sends a message that companies will be held accountable for harming children.
- Meta plans to appeal the ruling, stating they work hard to keep people safe on their platforms.
Meta Ordered to Pay $567M for Harms to Young People
A New Mexico court has ordered Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, to pay $567 million to address the harms caused to young people from its platforms. This decision comes after a landmark trial where prosecutors argued that Meta's platforms had caused significant harm to children's mental health and had failed to protect them from sexual exploitation.
The payment of $567 million will be used to fund treatment services, awareness campaigns, prevention programs, and screening services for young people over the next five years. This is in addition to the $375 million in civil penalties that Meta was ordered to pay in March after a jury found the company liable for knowingly harming children's mental health and concealing what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
The total amount of $942 million that Meta is responsible for is a small fraction of the company's annual profit, which was about $60 billion in 2025. Despite this, the ruling is seen as a significant setback for Meta, which faces numerous lawsuits from families of children who claim to have been harmed by the company's social media platforms.
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez welcomed the ruling, stating that it sends a clear message that companies will be held accountable for harming children. Meta, however, has announced plans to appeal the ruling, arguing that they work hard to keep people safe on their platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing harmful content.
Sources
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