New Mexico judge orders Meta to pay $567M for public nuisance harming children

A Santa Fe judge just handed Meta one of the most expensive lessons in the history of social media regulation. Judge Bryan Biedscheid ordered Meta Platforms to deposit $567 million into a youth harm abatement fund, ruling that the company’s apps constitute a public nuisance affecting children’s mental health across New Mexico. Combined with a $375 million civil penalty verdict from March 2026, Meta’s total tab in the case now exceeds $940 million. What the ruling actually requires The case, State of New Mexico v. Meta Platforms Inc., had already produced a jury verdict earlier this year finding Meta liable under New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act. The jury concluded that Meta misled users about the safety of its platforms and, in doing so, endangered children who used them. Judge Biedscheid’s August 6 order goes further than a simple financial penalty. He classified Meta’s platforms as a public nuisance, a legal designation more commonly associated with environmental contamination or hazardous properties than with software products. Of the $567 million abatement fund, $420 million must be directed specifically toward treatment services for young people. The ruling also imposes techn...