Meta Ordered to Pay $942M to Address Harm to Kids from Social Media

Meta just got slammed with a $942 million bill after a New Mexico judge said Facebook and Instagram didn’t do enough to protect young users. The ruling stacks a new $567 million fund on top of $375 million in penalties already decided by a jury, and it also forces changes like hiding public like counts by default for underage users and putting warnings about platform risks on its website. On paper, it’s a massive punishment. In the comments, though, the mood was less justice served and more “we’ve seen this movie before.”

The biggest reaction? Deep cynicism. One commenter flatly predicted the case will be “appealed to eternity,” while another wondered how many billions it would take before a fine this size stops being just a company expense. That’s the real drama here: not whether nearly a billion dollars sounds huge to normal people, but whether it sounds huge to Meta. Others zoomed out and asked the bluntest question of all: what do kids even get from Instagram and Facebook in the first place? That sparked the underlying culture-war vibe running through the thread — is this about safer apps, or are people increasingly questioning whether these apps are good for kids at all?

And yes, the comments brought receipts and sarcasm. One user cited the actual New Mexico public nuisance law like they were presenting Exhibit A in internet court, while another deadpanned, “can’t wait for the checks,” joking that ordinary people never seem to see the money from giant corporate penalties. So the community verdict? Big number, bigger distrust.