Court orders Instagram and Facebook's Meta to pay $567M to address kids' mental health online
- A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address harms to young people from its platforms.
- The majority of the funds, $420 million, will be allocated for treatment services for young people.
- This ruling adds to a previous $375 million penalty imposed on Meta for knowingly harming children's mental health.
- Meta plans to appeal the ruling, stating it works hard to keep people safe on its platforms.
- The court mandated Meta to improve age verification and implement changes to protect children online.
A New Mexico court has ordered Instagram and Facebook's parent company Meta to pay $567 million to address the harms caused to young people by its platforms. The ruling, made by Judge Bryan Biedscheid, allocates $420 million for treatment services for young people, while the remaining funds will be used for awareness, prevention, and screening services over the next five years.
This penalty is in addition to a previous $375 million civil penalty imposed in March, where jurors found that Meta knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed information regarding child sexual exploitation on its platforms. Prosecutors have also requested fundamental changes at Meta to reduce addictive features and improve age verification processes.
Despite the significant ruling, investors appeared unfazed, with Meta's stock dropping less than half a percent in after-hours trading. The total financial responsibility for Meta now stands at $942 million, a small fraction of its annual profit, which was approximately $60 billion in 2025. Meta has expressed its intention to appeal the decision, asserting its commitment to user safety and transparency regarding harmful content.
法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元以应对儿童心理健康问题
新墨西哥州法院命令Instagram和Facebook的母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元，以应对其平台对年轻人造成的伤害。法官布莱恩·比德谢德的裁决中，4.2亿美元将用于年轻人的治疗服务，其余资金将在未来五年内用于意识提升、预防和筛查服务。
这一罚款是对3月份判决的375万美元民事罚款的补充，陪审团发现Meta明知其行为对儿童心理健康造成伤害，并隐瞒了有关儿童性剥削的信息。检察官还要求Meta进行根本性变更，以减少上瘾特性并改善年龄验证流程。
尽管裁决重大，投资者似乎并未受到影响，Meta的股票在盘后交易中下跌不到百分之半。Meta目前的总财务责任为9.42亿美元，这只是其2025年约600亿美元年利润的一小部分。Meta已表示计划对该裁决提出上诉，重申其对用户安全和有害内容透明度的承诺。