Court orders Meta to pay $567 million to address kids’ <a href="https://healthylife7.com/court-orders-meta-to-pay-567m-to-address-kids-mental-health-online/" title="Court orders Meta to pay $567M to address kids' <a href="https://healthylife7.com/meta-ordered-to-pay-us567-million-in-us-state-for-teen-mental-health-fund/" title="Meta ordered to pay US$567 million in US state for teen mental health fund”>mental health online”>mental health and safety on its platforms
Advertisement
Updated: 6:45 PM CDT Aug 6, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
Court orders Meta to pay $567 million to address kids’ mental health and safety on its platforms
Updated: 6:45 PM CDT Aug 6, 2026Editorial Standards ⓘ
SANTA FE, N.M. —
A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms in the second phase of a landmark trial the social media giant lost in March
In a ruling late Thursday, Judge Bryan Biedcheid said the bulk of the money — $420 million — will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go toward awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years
Advertisement
In the first phase, jurors had ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms
In the second phase, prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight
The court said federal children’s privacy laws prevent Meta from applying age-verification tools to children under 13. The Children’s Online Privacy Act, or COPPA, means it cannot order Meta to request children to submit personal data or be passively tracked online, even for age verification purposes
The court also noted that ordering Meta to verify children’s ages for only Meta and not other social media companies would be “inequitable and unduly injurious” to the company
The Associated Press has reached out to New Mexico’s Department of Justice and Meta for comment on the decision
This is a breaking news story. Check back for updates
