A Court Called Meta a ‘Public Nuisance.’ The Victims Were Children.
On Aug. 6, 2026, a New Mexico judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund to remediate the harm its apps caused to children, and branded Facebook and Instagram a ‘public nuisance’ in the state. Combined with a $375 million penalty a jury imposed in March, the landmark child-safety judgment now totals $942 million.
A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million to address the harm its platforms caused to children, in a ruling handed down on Aug. 6, 2026, that branded Facebook and Instagram a ‘public nuisance’ in the state. Combined with a $375 million penalty a jury imposed in March, the case now carries a total judgment of $942 million, according to The Washington Post and CNN.
A $567 million abatement fund
First Judicial District Judge Bryan Biedscheid ordered Meta to pay into a fund to remediate the harms its apps have caused to young people in the state, with $420 million of the sum earmarked for treatment services and the remainder for awareness, prevention and screening over the next five years, The Washington Post reported. In ordering the fund, the judge agreed with the state that Meta amounted to a ‘public nuisance,’ pointing to addictive algorithms and an online environment that eased contact between children and predators, PBS reported.
What the jury found
The ruling followed a trial Meta lost in March, when a New Mexico jury imposed $375 million in civil penalties after finding the company had engaged in unfair, deceptive and unconscionable trade practices, CNBC reported. Jurors concluded that Meta had knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms, PBS reported. The state accused Meta of exposing minors to what it described as the ‘twin dangers of sexual exploitation and mental health harm,’ from sextortion schemes to messages soliciting children, NBC News reported.
A decoy 13-year-old, and a ‘breeding ground’
New Mexico's attorney general, Raúl Torrez, first sued Meta in December 2023, alleging its platforms had become a ‘breeding ground’ for child predators, NBC News reported. The complaint drew on an undercover investigation in which the state created decoy accounts, including one posing as a 13-year-old girl that Torrez said was ‘simply inundated with images and targeted solicitations’ from adults, CNBC reported.
Sweeping reforms, and an appeal
Beyond the money, the judgment requires Meta to overhaul how it protects minors over the next five years, including stronger measures against sextortion and child sexual exploitation, preventing minors from sending or receiving nude images, ending overnight push notifications for users under 18, and turning on privacy protections by default for young users, CBS News reported. Torrez called the outcome ‘historic,’ saying the judgment ‘holds the company accountable for the damage it caused to our children, our families, and our schools,’ according to the New Mexico Department of Justice. A Meta spokesperson said the company disagreed with the ruling and would appeal, CNBC reported.