Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced on May 22 that the New Mexico Department of Justice is concluding the final phase of its landmark child safety lawsuit against Meta. The second phase of the trial, following a jury verdict in March that found Meta liable for harming children and misleading parents, is expected to finish with testimony from Meta’s final witnesses.
The case has significant implications for technology companies and child safety policies. “Two months ago, a jury of New Mexicans found that Meta’s product design intentionally harms children and that Meta lied to parents about the safety of its products,” said Attorney General Torrez. “New Mexico’s victory, and the $375 million in civil penalties, changed the legal landscape for Big Tech, establishing that they can – and will – be held accountable when they violate laws that protect kids. It is time for Mark Zuckerberg to finally prioritize child safety, and I am looking forward to hearing the judge’s ruling on the changes Meta must make to protect children in New Mexico.”
During this phase, state officials argued that Meta’s platforms are a public nuisance and sought injunctive relief requiring Meta to fund part of an abatement plan addressing teen mental health issues linked to social media use. The proposed plan would require $779.5 million from Meta if approved by the court.
Expert witnesses provided testimony on several key issues during this phase. Clarie Miller from the New Mexico Department of Health said individual prevention tools are not enough: “There are hazards of the product that no one else has control of.” John Talley from NMDOJ described difficulties law enforcement faces with data returned by Meta: “The returns we receive from Meta typically can sometimes be thousands of pages… so we have to try to decipher those best as we can.” Nathaniel Lubin emphasized why independent oversight is necessary: “A monitor is appropriate to ensure that those mitigation efforts actually occur.” Fallon McNulty from NCMEC noted limitations in user-based reporting systems under end-to-end encryption: “That primarily would speak to Facebook Messenger… where now there is not the ability for child sexual exploitation to necessarily be proactively identified or disrupted.” Dr. Brian Levine testified about age verification technology: “Yoti has announced their products are exactly … 99 percent accurate for detecting someone 6 to 12 is under 13… This is a product that Meta already uses – or a partner that Meta already uses [for Facebook dating].” Zachary Ward reviewed data showing one in ten youths in New Mexico have mental health concerns attributable to social media exposure.
Michel Protti, Chief Privacy and Compliance Officer at Meta, acknowledged during testimony it was technically feasible for parental consent requirements or notification blocks during school hours: “We’d also be willing to input by default an 8 a.m.-to-3 p.m. block on notifications during broadly school hours here.” He further admitted compliance plans could be implemented depending on legal developments.
According to the official website, the New Mexico Attorney General serves as chief legal officer for New Mexico; provides services across all counties; advances justice through litigation; coordinates with local law enforcement agencies; seeks consumer protection; upholds rule of law; fosters trust via community outreach initiatives.
The outcome may set new standards nationwide regarding how large technology firms address youth safety online.
