A New Mexico judge has ordered Meta to pay $567 million (£445 million) as part of the second phase of a state lawsuit alleging its social media platforms harm young people's mental health, bringing the company's total penalty to $942 million. Judge Bryan Biedscheid also imposed a 90-hour monthly cap on individual use of Meta's platforms and required the firm to fund youth safeguarding measures and state mental health treatment programmes, ruling that Instagram and Facebook (though not WhatsApp) are a significant contributing factor to a mental health crisis among the state's young people.

The latest sum adds to $375 million awarded in March, based on the maximum $5,000-per-violation penalty under New Mexico law. Meta, whose market capitalisation stands at roughly $1.5 trillion, said it disagreed with the ruling and would appeal, insisting it works hard to keep users safe and has been transparent about tackling harmful content. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez hailed the decision as a victory for parents and children, framing the case as part of a wider effort by state prosecutors to hold major tech companies accountable, amid thousands of similar lawsuits nationwide.