New Mexico Court Orders Meta to Pay $567M to Treat Teen Mental Health

Judge Bryan Biedscheid in Santa Fe has ordered Meta to contribute $567 million to a fund meant to help mitigate the “public nuisance” created by its social services. That sum comes on top of the $375 million in civil penalties previously awarded by a jury in the same case.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Meta in Santa Fe County court back in 2023. In March 2026, a jury ruled that the platforms owned by the company — the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp — did too little to protect children from exploitation and misled parents about the safety of the apps, violating the state's consumer protection laws.

Two phases of the trial

The jury trial was only the first phase of the case: it dealt with the claims under the Unfair Practices Act and the associated penalties. In the second phase, now without a jury, the judge weighed the state's demand for “abatement” of the harm on the grounds that Meta had created a public nuisance.

Biedscheid concluded that Meta “caused and materially contributed” to that nuisance in New Mexico. In his words, the state is going through a teen mental health crisis: rates of suicide and eating disorders are rising. The judge separately noted the harm from the sexual exploitation of children, where “an online predator threatens or coerces a child for financial gain,” threatening to release compromising images.

The judge cited as a key factor that Meta had rolled out features “designed to maximize engagement and time spent on the platforms” — both for all users and for teens in particular.

What the fund is made of

The fund is allocated as follows: $420 million for treatment, $90 million for screening and diagnosis, $33 million for education and prevention, and $24 million for other expenses. The judge did, however, reject an expert's proposal to use Meta's money to build new medical centers, deeming it excessive: what needs funding is programs and specialists, not capital facilities.

The funding period was cut from the fifteen years requested by the state to five. In addition, in setting a sum below the amount sought, the judge took into account that other social networks also bear responsibility for the harm, and considered Meta's market share.

Torrez called the ruling a “landmark victory,” stressing that the case had always been “about protecting children” and about making sure the largest tech companies could not profit with impunity from practices that endanger young people.

Meta intends to appeal the verdict. The company said it “works tirelessly on user safety” and is confident in its record on protecting teens, adding that the claims “misrepresent the facts.” For scale: in the second quarter of 2026, Meta reported revenue of $60.8 billion and net income of $15.85 billion.

Source: Ars Technica