Overview
- A Santa Fe judge found on Thursday that Meta’s Facebook and Instagram created a public nuisance and must pay $567 million into a five‑year abatement fund, adding to a $375 million jury award from March for a combined liability near $942 million.
- The court ordered specific product and policy changes for New Mexico users, including stricter age‑assurance steps, a 90‑hour monthly cap for minors, limits on push notifications overnight and during school hours, hiding like counts by default for minors, and a ban on sexualized chatbot interactions with underage accounts.
- Roughly $420 million of the new fund is reserved for treatment services for young people and the remainder will fund prevention, screening, education and related programs with payments and compliance reports scheduled over five years and oversight by the court and state officials.
- Meta said it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal, and the company may seek to delay payments while higher courts review the decision.
- Legal experts and New Mexico prosecutors say the public‑nuisance framing — a doctrine long used for pollution and public‑health harms — could guide dozens of other state and local suits and influence pending federal multi‑state litigation over social media’s impact on youth.