Meta is appealing both verdicts, and has agreed to pay up to $18 billion to settle with 52 US states, which still needs a judge’s approval.
New Mexico. In March a jury found that Meta had misled the public about how safe Facebook and Instagram were for children, and ordered it to pay $375 million. In August a judge went further. He ruled that the platforms were a public nuisance and ordered another $567 million, most of it for young people’s mental health treatment. He also ordered five years of court-supervised changes in the state, including asking for proof of age when Meta thinks a user is under 13. In total Meta owes $942 million there, and says it will appeal.
Los Angeles. Also in March, a jury found Meta and YouTube negligent in the first trial over social media addiction. The case was brought by a 20-year-old woman who started using Instagram at nine. She was awarded $6 million, 70% of it from Meta. Snap and TikTok had settled with her before the trial began.
The 52 states. In August Meta agreed to pay up to $18 billion over ten years to settle a case brought by 52 US attorneys general. It also agreed to the two-hour limit, the overnight block and quieter school hours for teens. Part of the money depends on TikTok and YouTube agreeing to the same rules. A judge still has to approve it.
What the cases are about. Not the posts children see, but how the apps are built: feeds that never end, videos that play one after another, notifications timed to pull children back, and recommendations that learn what keeps them watching. That is why the courts let the cases go ahead, and it is the part a parent can do something about.
What the trials showed. Internal Meta documents were read out in court. They included the company’s own research on Instagram and teenage girls’ body image, and a plan to win back teenage users while telling parents they were in control.
Still to come. The first case brought by a school district, from Kentucky, was due before a federal jury in June. Meta, Snap, TikTok and YouTube all settled it first, for about $27 million between them, so no jury has ruled on the school districts’ claims yet. Hundreds of thousands of individual claims are queued against Meta, and more US trials are scheduled into 2027. Families in Italy have sued Meta and TikTok too.
Questions like this one, answered every Thursday. Free.
What this means for you right now
If your teen has Instagram or Facebook, this is what I’d do.
Don’t wait for the courts. None of this money reaches families, and outside New Mexico none of the court-ordered changes reach your teen’s account. The settings do, and our Instagram page shows which ones.
Look at the features the cases are about, not just what your teen watches. A content filter does nothing about a feed with no end or a phone that buzzes at midnight. Turn notifications off overnight, and keep the phone out of the bedroom.
Wherever you are, the New Mexico order shows what a court thinks Meta should have been doing all along. It’s a useful list to hold Instagram to.
Send this to another parent on WhatsApp
See how Instagram compares with the other apps your teen uses in the App scorecard.
Checked 13 November 2026.
Sources:
- PBS NewsHour, New Mexico court orders Meta to pay $567 million, August 2026
- New Mexico Department of Justice, judgment against Meta, August 2026
- NBC News, jury finds Meta and YouTube negligent, March 2026
- ABC News, Meta settlement and the changes for teens, August 2026
- The Next Web, Meta settles the Kentucky school district case, May 2026
- Meta, quarterly report to the SEC, July 2026
