- Meta's total penalty in the New Mexico case has reached £700 million ($942 million).
- A US judge likened the company's platforms to a factory creating public harm through its recommendation systems.
- The ruling also orders sweeping changes to how Instagram and Facebook operate for users under 18.
Meta has been hit with another major legal setback after a judge in the US state of New Mexico ordered the company to pay £421 million ($567 million) over claims that its platforms failed to protect children from online harm. The latest order takes the company's total penalty in the case to £700 million ($942 million), making it the biggest financial punishment Meta has faced over child safety.
The case is drawing attention well beyond New Mexico because the court went a step further than simply imposing a fine. Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that Meta's platforms amounted to a "public nuisance", comparing the company to a factory whose main product is advertising while the "pollution" is the psychological harm and sexual exploitation suffered by children, as quoted in a news report.
The lawsuit was first filed by New Mexico in 2023, arguing that Meta's recommendation algorithms repeatedly exposed young users to sexually explicit content and connected them with sexual predators. During the first phase of the trial, the court found that Meta had violated the state's Unfair Practices Act by steering children towards harmful material through its automated recommendation systems.
The latest ruling focuses on the wider impact of those harms. Judge Biedscheid reportedly said the effects were no longer limited to Meta's own platforms but had spread into schools, hospitals, families and law enforcement, creating what he described as a broader public burden. Legal observers say it appears to be the first time a social media company has been declared a public nuisance in a child safety case.
Beyond the fine, sweeping changes for young users
The court has directed Meta to place the money into a fund designed to reduce future harm. Around £312 million ($420 million) will be used to support mental health treatment and behavioural care for children affected by social media, while the remaining funds will help finance awareness programmes and specialist training for teachers, healthcare professionals and others working with young people.
The ruling also requires Meta to introduce a series of safety measures across Instagram and Facebook. Adult users must no longer receive recommendations for accounts belonging to people under 18, while adults will be blocked from sending direct messages to underage users.
The judge further ordered Meta to stop users under 18 from sending or receiving nude images, introduce a one-strike policy for adults involved in child sexual exploitation, remove public like counts for younger users, switch off push notifications between 10 pm and 7 am, and during school hours on weekdays, and introduce a maximum usage limit of 90 hours each month across Instagram and Facebook for under-18 users.
Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal. A company spokesperson reportedly said it had invested heavily in protecting young people online and remained confident in its safety measures, while arguing that the case misrepresented the facts.
Even with the latest penalty, analysts note the financial impact on Meta is relatively limited. The company recently reported quarterly revenue of £45.4 billion ($61 billion), up 28 per cent from a year earlier.
However, legal experts believe the judgment could carry consequences beyond the money involved. Bruce Daisley, former European vice-president of Twitter, reportedly told BBC Radio 4 that although the fine was "a drop in the ocean" for Meta, it signalled that governments were becoming increasingly willing to challenge social media companies over child safety.
The New Mexico case is only one of several legal battles facing Meta. Thousands of similar lawsuits are already pending across the US, while another major trial involving child privacy claims from nearly three dozen state attorneys general is scheduled to begin in California. Earlier this year, Meta also lost a separate case in Los Angeles that found the company could potentially be held liable for designing addictive social media platforms.
The judgment also arrives as governments around the world continue tightening rules on children's online safety. The UK and the European Union are pressing technology companies to strengthen protections for younger users, while several countries are considering broader restrictions on children's access to social media altogether.
