New Delhi, Aug. 7 -- ALBUQUERQUE - A New Mexico judge has ruled that teenagers on Meta's platforms deserve state-funded protection from the companies that built them, ordering Meta to pay $567 million and restructure how Facebook and Instagram operate for users under eighteen.

The judgment, issued Thursday by New Mexico District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid, directs Meta to fund a five-year abatement plan addressing harms to young users on Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The ruling is the second major financial blow against the company in New Mexico in under five months and brings the state's total recovery against Meta to $942 million.

The New Mexico action began in 2023, when Attorney General Raul Torrez filed suit alleging that Me...