SANTA FE, New Mexico – A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta Platforms to pay $567 million and implement additional child safety measures on Facebook and Instagram, expanding a landmark ruling after a jury found the company liable for harms involving young users.
Judge Bryan Biedscheid issued the ruling Thursday following the second phase of a lawsuit brought by the State of New Mexico. The order directs $420 million toward treatment services for young people, with the remaining funds allocated for prevention programs, public awareness campaigns, screening services and related initiatives over the next five years.
The remedies phase followed a March jury verdict that found Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed information regarding child sexual exploitation on its platforms. During the first phase of the case, jurors ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties.
Court Orders Additional Safety Measures
The ruling requires Meta to introduce new safety features on Facebook and Instagram for users in New Mexico.
Among the required measures are recurring banner notifications and informational screens explaining available child safety tools, privacy settings, best practices and options for reporting inappropriate content and comments. The educational materials and related platform changes will be subject to review by New Mexico officials.
During the remedies phase, state prosecutors sought broader reforms intended to reduce addictive platform features, strengthen age verification and improve protections against child sexual exploitation through enhanced privacy settings and increased oversight.
Federal Law Limits Mandatory Age Verification
Judge Biedscheid ruled that federal privacy law prevents the court from requiring Meta to mandate age verification for children younger than 13.
According to the ruling, the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA) prohibits companies from collecting additional personal information or passively tracking children solely to verify their ages. The court also concluded that imposing such a requirement only on Meta, while exempting competing social media platforms, would be inequitable and place an undue burden on the company.
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Instead, the court ordered Meta to continue improving its age assurance technology in New Mexico. The company currently uses artificial intelligence to estimate users’ ages based on signals including social connections and the types of content users view and share.
The ruling also directs Meta to develop a dedicated predictive model within two years to better identify users believed to be younger than 13.
New Requirements for Underage Users
Under the order, Meta must request proof of age from New Mexico users whom its systems estimate are younger than 13.
If the company determines that a user is under 13—or believes a user is under 18 without being able to determine a more precise age—it must apply protections appropriate to those age groups until the user’s age has been verified.
The ruling also requires Meta to work with schools or a child safety organization to establish a reporting portal that allows school personnel to report users who may be under 13. In addition, the company must delete personal information collected from users identified as being younger than 13.
Judge Biedscheid ordered Meta to file compliance reports twice each year detailing its progress in implementing the court’s requirements.
The Associated Press reported that it contacted both the New Mexico Department of Justice and Meta for comment following the ruling. Neither had publicly responded at the time of publication.
This report is based on reporting by The Associated Press.
