A Santa Fe district court ordered Meta to pay $567 million in August 2026 as part of the second phase of New Mexico’s child safety case against the company, pushing Meta’s total charges in the case to nearly $1 billion.
The court found that Meta’s platforms are a “significant contributing cause” of a teen mental health crisis affecting public health and safety throughout New Mexico, ruling the company a “public nuisance.” The $567 million will be directed into an abatement fund to support awareness and prevention programs, screening services, and treatment for people harmed by Meta’s platforms.
This latest ruling follows a first-phase decision in which Meta was ordered to pay $375 million in civil penalties, bringing the combined total to $942 million. The case was brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez.
“This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world’s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence,” Torrez said in a statement. “Today’s decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online.”
Meta disputed the ruling and announced plans to appeal. In a statement, spokesperson Andy Stone said: “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
The case represents one of the largest financial penalties tied to child safety on social media platforms, and the abatement fund structure may signal how future courts approach remedies in similar public nuisance claims against technology companies.
Source: The Verge