Judge rules Meta caused “public nuisance” and must fund mental health treatment

法官裁定 Meta 构成“公共滋扰”，必须资助心理健康治疗

A New Mexico judge yesterday ordered Meta to pay $567 million for a fund that would alleviate the “public nuisance” created by its social media services. The order to pay for youth mental health care is in addition to $375 million in civil penalties that a jury ordered Meta to pay earlier in the same case.

新墨西哥州一位法官昨日下令 Meta 支付 5.67 亿美元，用于设立一项旨在缓解其社交媒体服务所造成的“公共滋扰”的基金。这笔用于青少年心理健康护理的赔偿金，是在此前陪审团裁定 Meta 在同一案件中支付 3.75 亿美元民事罚款的基础上额外增加的。

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta in a Santa Fe County court in 2023. A jury found in March 2026 that Meta’s social media platforms do not effectively protect kids from child exploitation and ordered the company to pay civil damages for violating state consumer protections and misleading parents about the safety of its apps. The jury trial was just phase 1 of the case involving Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

新墨西哥州总检察长劳尔·托雷斯（Raul Torrez）于 2023 年在圣达菲县法院起诉了 Meta。2026 年 3 月，陪审团裁定 Meta 的社交媒体平台未能有效保护儿童免受剥削，并因违反州消费者保护法及误导家长关于其应用安全性，判令该公司支付民事赔偿。此次陪审团审判仅是针对 Facebook、Instagram 和 WhatsApp 母公司 Meta 案件的第一阶段。

“The Phase 1 jury trial considered the State’s Unfair Practices Act claims and resulting civil penalties. The Phase 2 bench trial considered the State’s request for abatement based upon the State’s allegation that the Defendant, Meta, created a public nuisance,” Judge Bryan Biedscheid wrote yesterday in the $567 million judgment. Meta reported $60.8 billion in revenue and $15.85 billion in net income in Q2 2026.

“第一阶段陪审团审判审理了州政府关于《不公平行为法》的诉求及相应的民事罚款。第二阶段法官审判则审理了州政府基于被告 Meta 造成‘公共滋扰’的指控而提出的补救请求，”布莱恩·比德沙伊德（Bryan Biedscheid）法官在昨日这份 5.67 亿美元的判决书中写道。Meta 报告显示，其 2026 年第二季度营收为 608 亿美元，净利润为 158.5 亿美元。

Biedscheid concluded that “Meta is a cause of and has substantially contributed to a public nuisance in New Mexico and is required to abate that public nuisance.” He said the evidence shows “New Mexico is experiencing a youth mental health crisis” with increased rates of suicide and eating disorders. The youth mental health crisis is “burdening public and community resources throughout the State,” and “overwhelmed the systems in place for addressing such harms,” he wrote.

比德沙伊德总结道：“Meta 是新墨西哥州公共滋扰的成因之一，并对其有重大影响，因此必须消除这种公共滋扰。”他表示，证据显示“新墨西哥州正经历一场青少年心理健康危机”，自杀率和饮食失调率均有所上升。他写道，这场青少年心理健康危机“加重了全州公共和社区资源的负担”，并“压垮了现有的应对此类伤害的系统”。

This is in part due to problematic social media use exacerbated by “Meta implement[ing] platform features that were designed to maximize engagement and time spent on its platforms, for all users and for teenage users in particular,” the judge wrote. “Significant numbers of people in New Mexico experience harm from Meta’s products due to risks of sexual exploitation, interference with education, and adverse mental health outcomes,” he wrote.

法官写道，这在一定程度上是由于 Meta “实施了旨在最大化用户参与度和使用时长的平台功能，这对所有用户，尤其是青少年用户而言，加剧了社交媒体使用的问题”。他写道：“新墨西哥州有大量民众因性剥削风险、学业干扰以及不良心理健康后果而受到 Meta 产品的影响。”

Biedscheid said this harm includes child sexual exploitation in which “an online predator threatens or coerces a child for financial gain, typically involving a threat to expose nude or exploitative imagery of that child.” “In sum, the Court finds that New Mexico is in the midst of a teen mental health crisis affecting public health and public safety in and throughout the state, and that Meta’s platforms are a significant contributing cause to the crisis,” he wrote.

比德沙伊德表示，这种伤害包括儿童性剥削，即“网络掠夺者为了经济利益威胁或胁迫儿童，通常涉及以曝光该儿童的裸照或剥削性影像作为威胁”。他写道：“总之，法院认定新墨西哥州正处于一场影响全州公共卫生和公共安全的青少年心理健康危机之中，而 Meta 的平台是导致这场危机的重要原因。”

Fund to cover mental health care

用于心理健康护理的基金

The fund ordered by Biedscheid would include $420 million for treatment, $90 million for screening and assessment, $33 million for awareness and prevention, and $24 million for other costs. Biedscheid rejected a proposal from an expert witness that Meta fund new community-based health centers and said the treatment and related services should be funded for five years instead of the requested 15 years.

比德沙伊德下令设立的基金包括 4.2 亿美元用于治疗、9000 万美元用于筛查和评估、3300 万美元用于意识提升和预防，以及 2400 万美元用于其他费用。比德沙伊德驳回了一位专家证人关于由 Meta 资助新建社区健康中心的提议，并表示治疗及相关服务的资助期限应为五年，而非原告要求的 15 年。

“Treatment is a necessary component of addressing harms to mental health and safety,” he wrote. “Any abatement fund must include funding for appropriate clinical or other behavioral health programs and professionals. However, requiring Meta to fund entire new physical facilities goes beyond what remedies are necessary to abate current harm.” Biedscheid found that 15 years’ worth of funding would be excessive. Other social media companies share responsibility for the harm to New Mexico youth, so he considered Meta’s market share when deciding on an amount lower than what the state wanted.

“治疗是解决心理健康和安全伤害的必要组成部分，”他写道。“任何补救基金都必须包含对适当临床或其他行为健康项目及专业人员的资助。然而，要求 Meta 资助全新的实体设施超出了消除当前伤害所需的补救范围。”比德沙伊德认为 15 年的资助期限过长。由于其他社交媒体公司也对新墨西哥州青少年的伤害负有责任，因此他在决定金额时考虑了 Meta 的市场份额，最终金额低于州政府的诉求。

Torrez called the ruling “a landmark victory,” and said the “case has always been about protecting children, standing up for families, and making sure that one of the world’s largest technology companies cannot profit from practices that endanger young people without consequence.”

托雷斯称这一裁决是“里程碑式的胜利”，并表示“此案的核心始终是保护儿童、支持家庭，并确保全球最大的科技公司之一不能在危及年轻人的行为中获利而无需承担后果。”

Meta said it will appeal the ruling, telling media outlets, “We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and have been transparent about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors and harmful content. We remain confident in our record of protecting teens online and will continue to defend ourselves against claims that misrepresent the facts.”

Meta 表示将对该裁决提出上诉，并向媒体表示：“我们一直在努力确保人们在我们平台上的安全，并对识别和移除不良行为者及有害内容所面临的挑战保持透明。我们对保护青少年在线安全的记录充满信心，并将继续针对歪曲事实的指控进行辩护。”