Meta Platforms (META) has been ordered to pay $567 million U.S. in a legal case that found the company’s social media apps such as Facebook and Instagram harmed children and teens.
The money will be placed into an abatement fund in New Mexico after Meta lost a public nuisance legal case earlier this year.
The New Mexico lawsuit is one of many legal actions the technology giant faces related to alleged harms caused by its social media apps.
The payment to the abatement fund comes on top of $375 million U.S. in civil penalties that Meta was forced to pay already after it was found to have violated New Mexico’s unfair practices act.
Most of the money in the New Mexico abatement fund will go towards treatment for people harmed by social media.
For Meta and its technology peers, the New Mexico case is one of several this year that experts have characterized as social media’s “Big Tobacco” moment.
In the New Mexico case, Meta was found to have taken steps to make its social media apps deliberately addictive to teenagers and children, harming their mental health as a result.
The lawsuit also claimed that Meta’s social media apps are used by child abusers to target vulnerable kids and teens.
In a news release, Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said that the “judgment holds the company accountable for the damage it caused to our children, our families, and our schools.”
Meta Platforms has said repeatedly that it plans to appeal all rulings and judgements in the New Mexico case.
In addition to the abatement fund, Thursday’s order requires Meta to improve its “age assurance models and tools in New Mexico.”
However, Meta is not being forced to make any changes to its social media algorithms.
META stock has declined 23% over the last 12 months to trade at $589.90 U.S. per share.
