This Thursday, a judge in New Mexico ordered Meta to fund up to $567 million to a damages restitution fund for harms caused to minors by its platforms, deemed responsible for a “disturbance of public order,” a first in the United States for a social network.
This amount, which is to fund over five years mental health and prevention programs for young people, adds to the $375 million civil penalties imposed in March by a Santa Fe jury, which had found Meta failing in protecting underage users. Meta (Facebook, Instagram) had appealed the verdict.
The New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, in a statement, hailed “a historic victory for the residents of New Mexico and for families across the country” and “a victory for every parent who has worried about the effects of social networks on their child.”
These measures include a limit of 90 hours per month of combined use of Facebook and Instagram for those under 18.
They also order cutting certain notifications intended for minors between 10:00 PM and 7:00 AM, as well as during school hours during the academic year, and to hide the “like” counters by default.
The judge also bans any “romantic or sexualized” interaction between state minors and Meta’s AI chatbots. And prohibits adults from using these assistants to simulate such exchanges with minor characters.
Among other obligations are the prohibition for any adult to message a minor who is not in their contacts, human review within 48 hours of reports of sexual exploitation, and the deletion of accounts suspected of belonging to under-13s when proof of age is lacking within 30 days.
Of the $567 million fund, nearly three-quarters ($420 million) are earmarked for adolescent mental health care, the remainder for screening, prevention, and coordination of programs.
The attorney general sought $953 million while Meta argued that it owed nothing, or at most $27 million.
