Meta, founded and owned by Mark Zuckerberg, was ordered Thursday to pay New Mexico $567 million for a fund that most of which will go toward treating harms incurred by children due to social media. File Photo by Ken Cedeno/UPI | License Photo
Aug. 7 (UPI) -- A New Mexico state court ordered Meta to pay more than $550 million and implement changes to protect children after finding the social media behemoth created a public nuisance that harmed young users.
The court issued its order Thursday, creating a $567 million fund, of which $420 million is earmarked for treatment for social media-related harms inflicted upon children in the state. The fund is on top of the $375 million Meta was fined in March for violating the state's consumer protection laws in the first phase of the case.
"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," New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a statement.
"Today's decision is a victory for every parent who has worried about what social media is doing to their child and every child who deserves to grow up safer online."
