Second phase of the trial against Meta in New Mexico: The company must pay $567 million and implement security changes

A court in New Mexico ordered Meta Platforms to allocate $567 million to mental health programs. The ruling sets forth the consequences of the state's lawsuit and expands the company's obligations following a jury's months-old verdict.

This is the second phase of a trial that the social media company lost in March, when a jury ordered it to pay $375 million in civil penalties after concluding that the company violated state consumer protection law by misleading users about the safety of minors on its platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

In this second phase of the trial, the prosecution asked the judge to order a series of structural changes to Meta's platforms. In this context, Judge Bryan Biedscheid ruled that $420 million of the $567 million must be allocated to treatment services for young people, while the remainder will be invested in awareness and prevention programs, detection services, and other expenses over the next five years.

In addition to the payment, Judge Biedscheid ordered Meta to implement new measures applicable in New Mexico to strengthen the safety of Facebook and Instagram users. The provisions include more visible notices about protection tools, more accessible mechanisms for reporting inappropriate content, and periodic reports to the court on their implementation, which could even lead to changes in the interfaces of the company's social media platforms.

In a statement issued by a spokesperson on Thursday night, Meta said it disagreed with the ruling and announced its intention to appeal it.

"We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts," the statement added.

Unlike other lawsuits focused on youth mental health, the lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez also addressed the protection of minors from sexual exploitation. The state accused Meta of failing to implement sufficient measures to prevent abusive contact and argued that features such as infinite scrolling, recommendation algorithms, and notifications encouraged greater use of the platforms by young people.