New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- Hours after a New Mexico court ordered Facebook and Instagram's parent company, Meta, to pay $567 million in the second phase of a landmark trial that the social media giant lost in March, the US tech giant said it disagrees with the ruling and will appeal.

In a ruling late Thursday, Judge Bryan Biedscheid found that the company had created a public nuisance in New Mexico in response to a lawsuit brought by Democratic Attorney General Raul Torrez. The state alleged that the company intentionally designed its platforms to addict young users while failing to protect children from sexual exploitation, Reuters reported.

Biedscheid noted that the social media giant is a "public nuisance" similar to air pollution, later c...