A New Mexico court has ordered Meta to establish a $567 million fund for youth mental health, limit Facebook and Instagram usage to 90 hours per month for users under 18, and delete accounts of users under 13, according to reports. The ruling updates an earlier order that required Meta to search for and remove underage accounts, as The Zioneer reported earlier today.
Friday morning's ruling by a New Mexico court adds significant new provisions to the state's earlier order against Meta. The court now requires Meta to pay $567 million, which will go into a fund addressing youth mental health issues linked to social media use. Additionally, the court set a 90-hour-per-month limit on Facebook and Instagram usage for users under 18, and ordered the deletion of accounts belonging to users under 13.
The Zioneer reported at 02:56 Jerusalem that the initial order required Meta to search for and remove underage accounts and limit minors' browsing time, citing N12 and ynet. The current ruling expands those measures with a specific financial penalty and a quantified monthly time cap.
The New Mexico case is part of a broader wave of regulation and litigation targeting social media platforms' impact on minors. The Zioneer has previously covered the UK's planned ban on under-16 social media use starting 2027, France's under-15 ban taking effect next school year, the EU's determination that Facebook and Instagram violated user-addiction laws, and the U.S. House's passage of the Kids Online Safety Act.
Meta has not yet publicly responded to the new ruling. Compliance timelines and the company's next steps remain unclear.
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