Meta’s legal troubles and bills continue to pile up.
A New Mexico judge ordered the social media giant to pay $567 million into a fund meant to remedy harms caused by Facebook and Instagram. That comes on top of $375 million in civil penalties a jury previously imposed in the same case, bringing Meta’s total legal bill to $942 million.
In Thursday’s ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid concluded that Meta had caused and substantially contributed to a “public nuisance” in New Mexico.
“Although Meta is not alone in this regard, its social media platforms are a significant contributing factor to the current mental health crisis among New Mexico’s youth established by the substantial evidence in this case,” Biedscheid wrote in the ruling.
The case was originally filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez in 2023, accusing Meta of exposing children to sexual exploitation and harming their mental health through the allegedly addictive design of its social media platforms.
“This case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world’s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence,” said Torrez in a statement.
The judge also ordered Meta to adopt new safeguards for young Facebook and Instagram users in the state. The safeguards include hiding like counts by default for users under 18, limiting minors’ time on Facebook and Instagram to a combined 90 hours a month, and restricting push notifications overnight and during school hours.
A Meta spokesperson told Gizmodo in an emailed statement that the company plans to appeal the ruling.
“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,” the company spokesperson said. “We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”
The ruling adds to mounting legal and regulatory pressure on Meta.
The company is facing thousands of lawsuits across the country from state governments, school districts, families, and individuals alleging that its social media platforms have hurt the mental health of young users.
Meta said in a court filing last month that California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey are seeking $1.4 trillion in potential penalties over allegations that the company designed Facebook and Instagram to addict young users and misled the public about their safety. That figure is just under Meta’s market capitalization of roughly $1.5 trillion. Jury selection for this case is set to start next week in California.
Meta is also facing scrutiny overseas. In July, European Union regulators told the company to change Facebook and Instagram in ways designed to make the platforms less addictive.
All of this poses a major threat to Meta’s core business, right as the company is spending unprecedented amounts of money on its AI ambitions.
During the first three months of 2026, the company generated $56 billion in revenue, $55 billion coming from advertising alone. At the same time, it raised its 2026 capital expenditure forecast to between $125 billion and $145 billion, up from its previous projection of $115 billion to $135 billion. The majority of that spending is set to be invested in AI infrastructure.
