SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — 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 late Thursday ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid 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.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 decision means the look of Meta’s platforms could change. The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain its protection features, best practices, tools to address inappropriate comment, for example, and display them regularly. Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.“We disagree with the ruling and will appeal,” said a statement issued by a Meta spokesperson late Thursday.
