Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

theguardian.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

1–10 of 454 posts

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#1

Post by boplicity »

https://www.reuters.com/world/new-mexico-court-orders-meta-p...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2026/aug/06/new-mexic...

https://www.kob.com/new-mexico/nm-court-orders-meta-to-pay-5...

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cd7lz3wr2rlo

https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-ordered-to-pay-942-million-to-...

New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health
theguardian.com

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#4

Post by cadamsdotcom »

majorchord wrote: post #3

I wonder how many billions it would take every year for this to not just be considered "cost of doing business"?

This is the "slap on the wrist, don't do it again".

A future judge will not be so kind if they keep doing it.

Being punitive the first time is unwise because it invites abuse by others seeking an advantage.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#5

Post by tristanj »

Per the court ruling [0], the specific law that Meta violated was New Mexico’s public-nuisance law, NMSA 1978 § 30-8-1. The relevant section that was violated is [1]:

A public nuisance consists of knowingly creating, performing or maintaining anything affecting any number of citizens without lawful authority which is either:

- A. injurious to public health, safety, morals or welfare; or

- B. interferes with the exercise and enjoyment of public rights, including the right to use public property.

Whoever commits a public nuisance for which the act or penalty is not otherwise prescribed by law is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.

The judge found that Meta’s operation of Facebook and Instagram created a public nuisance which injured public health, safety, and welfare; and burdened public schools, hospitals, and law enforcement. The judge ordered Meta to pay $567 million into a fund to abate the harm done.

[0] https://www.kob.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/08/D-101-CV-2023...

[1] https://law.justia.com/codes/new-mexico/chapter-30/article-8...

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#7

Post by judge2020 »

tristanj wrote: post #5

Per the court ruling [0], the specific law that Meta violated was New Mexico’s public-nuisance law, NMSA 1978 § 30-8-1. The relevant section that was violated is [1]: A public nuisance consists of knowingly creating, performing or maintaining anything affecting any number of citizens without lawful authority which is either: - A. injurious to public health, safety, morals or welfare; or - B. interferes with the exerc…

Is there also a sort-of injunction to stop doing x y z? Or is just existing as a social media company a public nuisance?

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#8

Post by tristanj »

judge2020 wrote: post #7
tristanj wrote: post #5

Per the court ruling [0], the specific law that Meta violated was New Mexico’s public-nuisance law, NMSA 1978 § 30-8-1. The relevant section that was violated is [1]: A public nuisance consists of knowingly creating, performing or maintaining anything affecting any number of citizens without lawful authority which is either: - A. injurious to public health, safety, morals or welfare; or - B. interferes with the exerc…

Is there also a sort-of injunction to stop doing x y z? Or is just existing as a social media company a public nuisance?

From the article:

The company must also enact certain safety features such as limiting the amount of time underage users in the state spend on Facebook and Instagram, hiding by default the number of “likes” on photos for such people and disclosing to users there the risks of its platforms.

For users under 18, Meta will eliminate push notifications during night time (10:00 PM to 7:00 AM) on all days; and from 8:00 AM to 3:00 PM on school days during the academic year. They will also limit the usage of Facebook and Instagram to 90 hours per month.

TBH, these restrictions will just push kids to use Snapchat.

Re: New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567m over harms to children’s mental health

#10

Post by ElProlactin »

tristanj wrote: post #8
judge2020 wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is there also a sort-of injunction to stop doing x y z? Or is just existing as a social media company a public nuisance?

From the article: The company must also enact certain safety features such as limiting the amount of time underage users in the state spend on Facebook and Instagram, hiding by default the number of “likes” on photos for such people and disclosing to users there the risks of its platforms. For users under 18, Meta will eliminate push notifications during night time (10:00 PM to 7:00 AM) on all days; and from 8:00 AM…

> They will also limit the usage of Facebook and Instagram to 90 hours per month.

When you consider that the average person is awake for somewhere between 450 and 500 hours per month, 90 hours still represents ~20% of waking time.

For comparison, a K-12 student spends 110-140 hours per month at school. So this is still a ridiculous amount of time for anyone to be spending on social media, teen or adult.

Post reply on HN