The news: A New Mexico state court judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a teen mental health fund after ruling that the company created a public nuisance in the state. The payment adds to $375 million in civil penalties imposed in the same case and will fund mental health treatment, prevention, screening, and awareness efforts over the next five years.

The order also requires Meta to add safety measures, including limits on teens’ use of Facebook and Instagram, safeguards for AI chatbots, and restrictions on notifications. Meta says it will appeal.

Why it matters: Social media platforms are facing real consequences over claims that their products harm youth mental health. Meta, TikTok, Snapchat, and YouTub are all facing thousands of lawsuits alleging their platforms have harmed young users. A Meta federal trial in Oakland is set to begin later this month with four states seeking as much as $1.4 trillion in penalties.

The New Mexico case is significant because the court went beyond imposing financial penalties and ordered Meta to make changes to its platform. Another Meta trial underway in Tennessee seeks damages as well as court-ordered design changes.

The legal pressure comes even as social platforms roll out safety features of their own, including content filtering, message restrictions, time-limit reminders, and privacy features that give parents more control.

Implications for social media platforms: The cases raise the stakes for platforms by increasing the potential for courts to influence product design and youth safety features. The ruling could give other states a template for seeking financial penalties and product changes. How far the courts can go remains unclear. The New Mexico judge, for example, rejected some of the AG’s requested changes, including altering its recommendation algorithms and eliminating infinite scroll on First Amendment grounds, but future cases could help define how much authority courts have to require platforms to change their products.

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