New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harm to youths

The ruling comes in the second phase of a landmark trial, with the Instagram, Facebook owner also losing in March.A judge in New Mexico in the United States has ordered Facebook and Instagram owner Meta to pay $567m and change how its platforms function for young users in the state after finding the company is to blame for harming children’s mental health.Thursday’s ruling came in the second phase of a landmark trial against the social media giant, with jurors in March finding that Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram for young users. The jury ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages earlier this year.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4New York to require social media platforms to display mental health labelslist 2 of 4Australia declares child social media ban victory as 4.7m accounts closedlist 3 of 4Landmark cases on social media’s impact on children begin this week in USlist 4 of 4How a social media campaign triggered huge migrant surge on Ceutaend of listAfter this latest ruling, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said the bulk of the money, $420m, will be used for treatment services for young people. The rest will go towards awareness and prevention, screening services and other costs over the next five years.Prosecutors had asked the judge to impose fundamental changes at Meta aimed at reining in addictive features, improving age verification and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.The decision means the look of Meta’s platforms could change. The judge ordered Facebook and Instagram to build banner and informational screens to clearly explain their protection features, best practices and tools to address inappropriate comments, for example, and display them regularly.Those changes and an educational campaign in New Mexico would be subject to review by the state.Meta said it will appeal the ruling and that it has been working to identify and remove harmful content from its platforms.