New Mexico Wins $567 Million in Bombshell Big Tech Ruling!!

Summary

Sidebar with Katie Phang:

New Mexico Wins $567 Million in Bombshell Big Tech Ruling!!
Date: August 7, 2026
Host: Katie Phang

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Episode Overview

This episode centers on the landmark legal victory by New Mexico against Meta (the company behind Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp), resulting in a $567 million ruling—the largest of its kind in the U.S. to date—for the harm caused to children by social media platforms. Katie Phang unpacks the trial, the evidence, the new obligations imposed on Meta, and what this means for broader accountability in Big Tech. She also contextualizes this case within ongoing litigation nationwide and features statements from New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Background and Legal Significance

• First-of-its-kind Ruling:
  • “It was the first of its kind in the United States because it was the first time that a state by way of New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torres… was able to find Meta liable for harming its children.” (00:39, Legal Analyst)
  • The lawsuit was brought under the New Mexico Unfair Practices Act, primarily alleging that Meta misled consumers about the safety of its platforms for youth.
• Previous Jury Verdict:
  • In March, a jury awarded $375 million in civil penalties against Meta for violating state consumer protection laws. (01:57–02:09)
• Bench Trial for Remedies:
  • After the jury trial, a bench trial (judge only) addressed remedies—like an injunction, monetary relief, and operational changes at Meta. (02:37–03:22)

2. The Evidence Against Meta

• Internal Documents & Testimony:
  • Evidence included internal Meta documents and testimony from former employees indicating Meta’s awareness that its platforms enabled predatory behavior and child exploitation. (02:13–02:37)
  • Addictive design features were intentionally built to keep minors engaged, increasing their exposure to harmful content. (02:37–03:22)
• Memorable Quote:
  • “The platforms… enabled pedophiles and predators to be able to engage in child sexual exploitation on those platforms.” (02:34, Legal Analyst)

3. The Judge’s Ruling & Abatement Fund

• $567 Million Abatement Fund:
  • Judge Brian Biedscheid ordered Meta to pay $567 million to fund treatment and mitigation efforts for youth harmed by social media use in New Mexico. (03:26–04:03)
• Operational Changes Imposed on Meta:
  • Abatement period of five years; Meta must submit semiannual progress reports. (04:41–05:14)
  • Push Notifications: Prohibited for underage users of Facebook and Instagram from 10PM to 7AM. (05:20–05:31)
  • Usage Limits: Underage users’ time on Meta platforms capped at 90 hours per month. (05:40–05:45)
• Purpose and Scope:
  • Remedy aims to “fix the damages caused or start to fix… caused by Meta’s platforms, including giving money to help get treatment for young people who have been harmed by social media.” (05:14, Legal Analyst)
• Enforcement & Monitoring:
  • An independent monitor will oversee Meta’s compliance with these requirements. (04:12–04:35)

4. Comparison to Other Cases

• California Verdict:
  • Earlier this year, a California jury awarded $3 million to a teen for social media addiction and mental distress caused by Facebook and YouTube. (06:59–07:19)
  • The case was framed as product liability, comparable to historic tobacco lawsuits. (07:25–07:45)
• Nationwide Litigation:
  • “Thousands of lawsuits right now against Meta and other social media platforms, including YouTube, for the way that they… have auto-generated, the algorithms… automatically.” (07:49–07:57)
  • Upcoming trials in California, Colorado, Kentucky, and New Jersey. (08:29–08:41)

5. The Stakes for Youth Mental Health & Public Policy

• Addictive Technology, Vulnerable Users:
  • Youth are particularly susceptible—"It’s a totally different thing to be a young person who doesn’t have the ability or the maturity yet to be able to regulate these things.” (08:12–08:21, Katie Phang)
• Systemic Reform Through Litigation:
  • Broader push for social media companies to implement design backstops protecting minors from predation and mental health harms. (09:22–09:55)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Attorney General Raul Torres’ Statement (Read aloud by Legal Analyst at 08:48):

  • “For years, Meta knew its platforms were harming New Mexico's kids. From feeding a youth mental health crisis to connecting predators with children… and it chose engagement and profit over their safety. Today, Meta is paying for that choice.” (08:48–09:10)

• On Symbolic Impact:

  • “Almost a billion dollars against Meta is just a drop in the bucket, but it’s the symbolism… of having not only a jury but also a judge agree that Meta is liable for its software, its platforms, and the way that it’s designed its practices…” (09:10–09:22, Katie Phang)

• On Accountability:

  • “This is the type of accountability that we talk about here at Katie Fang News. This is the be mad, be outraged, and the demand accountability part of it.” (09:55–10:28, Katie Phang)

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Important Segment Timestamps

• Background & Legal Overview: 00:29–02:09
• Evidence & Meta’s Knowledge: 02:09–03:22
• Details of the Judge’s Order: 03:22–05:45
• Significance for Youth Safety: 05:46–06:24
• Comparison to Other Social Media Lawsuits: 06:43–07:57
• Upcoming Legal Battles Nationwide: 08:29–08:41
• Attorney General’s Statement: 08:48–09:18
• Symbolic Impact & Accountability: 09:18–10:28

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Tone and Style

Katie Phang maintains her signature direct, “straight, no chaser” style—clear, urgent, and focused on factual, actionable analysis. She balances outrage with a legal explanation, highlighting the broader implications of this historic ruling and inviting listeners to stay informed and engaged.

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Transcript

[Ryan Reynolds]

Hey, it's Ryan Reynolds here for Mint Mobile.

[Katie Feng]

Now.

[Ryan Reynolds]

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of $45 for 3 months, $90 for 6 months or $180 for a 12 month plan required $15 per month equivalent taxes and fees Extra initial plan term only greater than 50 gigabytes. Me slow when network is busy.

[Legal Analyst]

See Terms Some exciting news out if you'll recall, back in March of this year I actually covered a jury verdict

[Katie Feng]

that came out in that state.

[Legal Analyst]

It was the first of its kind in the United States because it was the first time that a state by

[Katie Feng]

way of New Mexico Attorney General Raul

[Legal Analyst]

Torres, that a state was able to find Meta liable for harming its children.

[Katie Feng]

Now, if the name Raul Torres sounds

[Legal Analyst]

familiar, he is the Attorney General New Mexico who just sued the the Blanch

[Katie Feng]

doj, I guess I should call it the Trump DOJ and Todd Blanche because

[Legal Analyst]

of their stonewalling and lack of cooperation to turn over the unredacted Epstein files

[Katie Feng]

so that Attorney General Torres can help

[Legal Analyst]

victims and investigate crimes that were perpetrated by Epstein and others at Zorro Ranch in New Mexico. So just as a refresher, back in March, Attorney General Torres went after Meta and a jury found Meta liable for misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children. The claims were bought pursuant to New Mexico's Unfair Practices act. And with that verdict, again, New Mexico became the first state in our country that was able to prevail at a

[Katie Feng]

trial against a major tech company for

[Legal Analyst]

harm to young people.

[Katie Feng]

At that time of that verdict in

[Legal Analyst]

March, what happened was the verdict awarded 375 million doll in civil penalties for violations of New Mexico's consumer protection laws.

[Katie Feng]

And I'll tell you that what was amazing about that trial is the evidence

[Legal Analyst]

that was submitted in that case showed

[Katie Feng]

by way of internal documents from the

[Legal Analyst]

company Meta, as well as testimony from former Meta employees that they knew at Meta that the platforms that were created, the programs and the software that were being used enabled pedophiles and predators to

[Katie Feng]

be able to engage in child sexual

[Legal Analyst]

exploitation on those platforms. It also had a product design that intentionally made the platforms more addictive so that young people would continuously go back and see, engage, read, view, hear content that was harmful for them. So that jury verdict was 375 million against Meta. And then there was a separate part of the case that went to a bench trial, meaning it was only heard by a judge. And that separate part of the case was the state of New Mexico seeking things like an injunction and changes to the way that Meta handles its platforms, etc.

[Katie Feng]

And of course, it wouldn't just benefit people in New Mexico, it'd benefit everybody

[Legal Analyst]

who's a consumer that is using these Meta platforms. Which gets us to today. Late last night, New Mexico First Judicial Judge, District Judge Brian Bida Scheide Biedeshied B I E D S C H E I D My. My apologies if I mispronounced his name. Late yesterday issued his ruling. He ordered meta to pay $567 million for an abatement fund to address the harms it has done to New Mexico's youth.

[Katie Feng]

Now, again, this was based on allegations that Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, all of those platforms from Meta, that they were a,

[Legal Analyst]

quote, public nuisance to teens and teen health within the state.

[Katie Feng]

And so, for example, the New Mexico Attorney General said, I would like you, the court, to enjoin, or I want you to order the company to operate differently for its users of a specific age. Also issue monetary relief, which was the 567 million, and appoint an independent monitor.

[Legal Analyst]

So what this judge did was this. The judge said that your abatement fund

[Katie Feng]

obligations, Meta, is going to last for five years. You have to provide written reports on a semiannual basis as to the status and progress of your compliance with each of the abatement measures that have been ordered. Let's get into that because that's really important here. This abatement fund that I'll now start with, the 567 million from Meta, we'll give damages, we'll fix the damages caused or start to fix, right. And remedy the damages that been caused by Meta's platforms, including giving money to help get treatment for young people who

[Legal Analyst]

have been harmed by social media.

[Katie Feng]

Here are some of the changes that Meta has to make.

[Legal Analyst]

Are you ready?

[Katie Feng]

Meta is prohibited in New Mexico from

[Legal Analyst]

sending push notifications to the accounts of underage users of their platforms on Instagram

[Katie Feng]

and Facebook between the hours of 10pm and 7am Meta also has to limit the amount of time that those young

[Legal Analyst]

users spend on its platforms to no

[Katie Feng]

more than 90 hours a month.

[Legal Analyst]

Now, that might not sound big to

[Katie Feng]

you, but for those of you that have a teen or a young user of social media platforms, you And I

[Legal Analyst]

both know they're glued to their electronic devices.

[Katie Feng]

So any prospect of it's not just parental or guardian supervision ordering them not to do it.

[Legal Analyst]

If you can actually have it be organically baked into the platform to protect our children, this is a win.

[Katie Feng]

It's a win for their mental health. It's also a win to combat sex predation, child exploitation, pedophiles from being able

[Legal Analyst]

to access these platforms to get to our children. This is one of thousands of lawsuits

[Katie Feng]

that have been brought across our country against Meta. And these lawsuits have been brought by teenagers, their families, on their behalf, school

[Legal Analyst]

districts, states like the state of New

[Katie Feng]

Mexico, through their attorneys general. Now, you'll also recall that earlier this year there was this huge ruling out of California, and that was similar but different.

[Legal Analyst]

In that California trial, a jury found

[Katie Feng]

Facebook and YouTube liable because of a teen's mental distress caused due to social media addiction. And the jury awarded that family $3 million. Now, she brought this lawsuit as a young woman, but she alleged that when

[Legal Analyst]

she was a teenager that she suffered

[Katie Feng]

from social media addiction because of the

[Legal Analyst]

way that the product. And remember, this is a product liability case.

[Katie Feng]

This was brought similar to when the tobacco companies were being sued for creating an addictive product. This lawsuit was interesting because it was built on this idea that places like

[Legal Analyst]

YouTube and Facebook, that they're creating platforms knowing that the design of those products

[Katie Feng]

is intentionally being done to make them addictive.

[Legal Analyst]

So again, thousands of lawsuits right now

[Katie Feng]

against Meta and other social media platforms,

[Legal Analyst]

including YouTube, for the way that they

[Katie Feng]

have the auto generated, the algorithms that have like auto generation and there's no stops in the way that you're getting the videos played, you know, automatically, things like that, right? These are important because we have to protect our youth.

[Legal Analyst]

It's one thing to be an adult

[Katie Feng]

and listen, adults have social media addictions, right? But it's a totally different thing to be a young person who doesn't have the ability or the, the maturity yet

[Legal Analyst]

to be able to regulate these things.

[Katie Feng]

And the exposure is pretty big.

[Legal Analyst]

But the reason why I wanted to remind you about this LA verdict is later this month.

[Katie Feng]

In August, the attorneys general from California,

[Legal Analyst]

Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey, are going to go to trial on these issues.

[Katie Feng]

So, look, I want to read to you what Attorney General Raul Torres said about this win.

[Legal Analyst]

And he said for years, Meta knew

[Katie Feng]

its platforms were harming New Mexico's kids. From feeding a youth mental health crisis to connecting predators with children.

[Legal Analyst]

And it chose engagement and profit over their safety. Today, Meta is paying for that choice. It is.

[Katie Feng]

Now, look, I agree almost a billion dollars against Meta is just a drop

[Legal Analyst]

in the bucket, but it's the symbolism

[Katie Feng]

of having not only a jury but also a judge.

[Legal Analyst]

Agree that Meta is liable for its

[Katie Feng]

software, its platforms, and the way that

[Legal Analyst]

it's designed its practices to lure in our youth, get them addicted to social media and to the technology, and then not do anything internally. There's no internal backstops to protect them from predation, pedophiles and other horrific, horrific things. So congratulations and thanks to New Mexico

[Katie Feng]

Attorney General Raul Torres, not only for your fantastic lawsuit against Tom Blanche and the DOJ earlier this week over the Epstein files, but also on this subsequent double whammy win against Meta and its platforms. This is the type of accountability that we talk about here at Katie Fang News. This is the be mad, be outrage and the demand accountability part of it. Katie Feng here. We launched the Katie Fang News Channel in partnership with the Midas Touch Network so we could bring you the latest

[Legal Analyst]

in legal and political news.

[Katie Feng]

Straight, no chaser. So if you're a fellow truth teller, hit that subscribe button and share the word about this channel so we can build a high information America together.