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 payment, $420 million, will be allocated for treatment services for young people.
- This ruling is in addition to a previous $375 million civil penalty imposed on Meta for knowingly harming children's mental health.
- Meta plans to appeal the ruling and maintains that it works hard to keep people safe on its platforms.
- The court also mandated that Meta improve its age verification tools and develop a dedicated model for users under 13.
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, delivered by Judge Bryan Biedscheid, states that $420 million of the total amount will be used for treatment services for young people, while the remaining funds will be allocated for awareness, prevention, and screening services over the next five years.
This new penalty adds to the $375 million in civil penalties that were imposed on Meta in March, after a jury determined that the company knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed information regarding child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The total amount Meta is now responsible for is $942 million, which is relatively small compared to its annual profit of approximately $60 billion in 2025.
In response to the ruling, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez emphasized that the decision sends a clear message that companies will be held accountable for designs that knowingly put children at risk. Meta has expressed its intention to appeal the ruling and continues to assert its commitment to ensuring safety on its platforms.
法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元以解决儿童心理健康问题
新墨西哥州法院命令Instagram和Facebook的母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元，以解决其平台对年轻人造成的伤害。法官布莱恩·比德施海德的裁决指出，总金额中有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。
这一新罚款是对Meta在三月份被判处的3.75亿美元民事罚款的补充，陪审团认定该公司明知其行为对儿童心理健康造成伤害，并隐瞒了关于儿童性剥削的信息。Meta目前需承担的总金额为9.42亿美元，相较于其2025年约600亿美元的年利润，这一数字相对较小。
对此裁决，新墨西哥州检察长劳尔·托雷斯强调，该决定明确传达了一个信息，即公司将对那些明知会将儿童置于风险中的设计负责。Meta表示将对裁决提出上诉，并继续坚称其致力于确保平台安全。