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 is in addition to a previous $375 million civil penalty imposed on Meta for knowingly harming children's mental health.
- The total amount Meta is responsible for now stands at $942 million, a small fraction of its annual profit.
- Meta plans to appeal the ruling, stating it is committed to keeping people safe on its platforms.
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. Judge Bryan Biedscheid stated that the majority of the funds, amounting to $420 million, will be used for treatment services for young people, while the remainder will go toward awareness, prevention, and screening services over the next five years.
This ruling adds to a previous $375 million civil penalty imposed on Meta in March, after a jury found that the company knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed information about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The total financial responsibility for Meta now stands at $942 million, which is a small fraction of its annual profit, reported to be around $60 billion in 2025.
In response to the ruling, Meta announced plans to appeal, asserting its commitment to safety on its platforms and the challenges of identifying harmful content. The court also mandated changes to Meta's platforms, including the development of better age verification tools and educational campaigns to inform users about safety features.
法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元以改善儿童在线心理健康
新墨西哥州法院命令Instagram和Facebook母公司Meta支付5.67亿美元，以改善其平台对年轻人的伤害。法官布莱恩·比德施海德表示，大部分资金，即4.2亿美元，将用于年轻人的治疗服务，其余部分将在未来五年内用于意识、预防和筛查服务。
这一裁决是对Meta在三月份被判处的375万美元民事罚款的补充，陪审团发现该公司故意危害儿童心理健康，并隐瞒了有关儿童性剥削的信息。目前Meta需承担的总金额为9.42亿美元，这仅是其年利润的一个小部分，预计2025年约为600亿美元。
对此裁决，Meta宣布计划上诉，重申其对平台安全的承诺以及识别有害内容的挑战。法院还要求Meta对其平台进行变更，包括开发更好的年龄验证工具和开展教育活动，以告知用户安全功能。