Overview
- A New Mexico judge ruled Thursday that Facebook and Instagram created a public nuisance and must pay $567 million into a five‑year abatement fund to address harms to young people.
- That $567 million award follows a March jury verdict that fined Meta $375 million, bringing the company's total liability in the state case to about $942 million.
- The court ordered concrete product and policy changes for minors, including a 90‑hour monthly usage cap, default private accounts for teens, hiding like counts for minors and limits on push notifications during school hours and overnight.
- The judge allocated roughly $420 million of the new fund for treatment and required twice‑yearly compliance reports, but declined to mandate forced age verification for under‑13s because of the federal COPPA privacy law and fairness concerns.
- Meta said it will appeal and the ruling is being watched as a potential model for dozens of other state, local and school‑district suits and for a multi‑state federal trial scheduled in Oakland, though implementation and precedent remain uncertain.