Meta has been ordered to pay a record $942 million after a US judge ruled the social media giant failed to protect children from harm on its platforms, intensifying global scrutiny of how big tech treats young users.

The case was heard in a New Mexico court, where Judge Bryan Biedscheid imposed a new $567 million penalty on top of an earlier $375 million award in the same lawsuit. Together, the sums form the largest financial sanction Meta has faced over child safety, underscoring the scale of the court’s findings against the company.

In a sharply worded ruling, Biedscheid branded Meta a public nuisance, likening its impact on children to pollution from a factory. He said the harms linked to its platforms do not remain online but spill into homes, classrooms and communities, affecting mental health, education and family life.

The lawsuit, brought by New Mexico’s attorney general, accused Meta of designing and operating its services in ways that exposed children to sexually explicit content and online predators. Central to the case were Meta’s recommendation algorithms, which prosecutors argued amplified harmful material and made it easier for adults to contact minors.

The court concluded that Meta repeatedly violated New Mexico’s consumer protection laws by misrepresenting the safety of its products and failing to implement adequate safeguards, even as internal research and external warnings highlighted risks to young users.

Meta, which owns Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Threads, said it disagrees with the decision and will appeal. The company insists it has invested heavily in child safety, pointing to tools such as parental controls, age verification measures and content filters, and argues that sweeping restrictions could undermine legitimate communication and expression.

Beyond the financial hit, the ruling imposes strict new operating conditions. Meta must block adults from initiating direct messages to minors who do not follow them, remove public like counts for users under 18, curb overnight notifications and cap teenagers’ daily time on Facebook and Instagram at roughly three hours, unless a parent opts out.

The judgment lands as Meta faces thousands of similar lawsuits across the United States alleging its products contribute to anxiety, depression and addiction among children and teenagers. It also feeds into a broader international push for tougher regulation of social media, with lawmakers in multiple countries advancing rules that would force platforms to redesign services with child safety as a central requirement rather than an afterthought.