New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567 mn over harm to children's mental well-being

At a time when Meta is facing intense scrutiny from India over content on its platform, including presence of child sexual abuse material in Instagram, a New Mexico state court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million for harming the mental well-being of children through its social media platforms.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid of the Santa Fe District Court found that the social media giant had created a public nuisance in New Mexico by designing features that encouraged excessive use among young users and by failing to adequately protect children from online sexual exploitation, foreign news agencies reported.

According to reports, Judge Bryan Biedcheid said that $420 million will be used for treatment services for young people, while the remaining will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.

The decision follows an earlier phase of the lawsuit in which a New Mexico jury, five months ago, ordered Meta to pay $375 million for violating consumer protection laws by allegedly misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users.

In addition to the financial penalty, the court directed Meta to introduce several youth safety measures for a period of five years, including monthly limits on teens' use of Facebook and Instagram, restrictions on notifications, tighter controls on adult contact with minors, safeguards for AI chatbots, and enhanced ​review of child sexual abuse reports, under a decree that will be in place for five years.

More than 40 states and over 1,300 school districts have filed public nuisance lawsuits against social media companies, seeking damages as well as court orders requiring changes ⁠to products and practices.

Notably, Australia became the world's first country to ban social media for children under 16 in December last year.