Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced the conclusion of the final phase in New Mexico’s landmark child safety lawsuit against Meta, with the trial expected to end as Meta presents its final witnesses. The New Mexico Department of Justice is seeking changes to Meta’s products that child safety and technology experts testified are necessary and feasible.
Torrez said, “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. 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, the state argued that Meta’s platforms constitute a public nuisance and sought injunctive relief requiring Meta to fund its share of an abatement plan addressing teen mental health needs linked to social media. The requested relief includes independent oversight through a court-appointed child safety monitor; effective age verification; safer algorithms for children; removal of addictive features like infinite scroll and autoplay during school or sleep hours; restrictions on end-to-end encryption in private communications with minors; warning labels about platform risks; permitting law enforcement undercover accounts; preventing adults not directly connected from messaging minors; and permanent bans for adults engaged in or facilitating child exploitation. The state seeks an abatement plan valued at $779.5 million.
Expert testimony included Clarie Miller from the Department of Health stating individual prevention tools are insufficient due to inherent product hazards beyond user control. John Talley from NMDOJ described challenges law enforcement faces with Meta’s data returns and CyberTips quality. Nathaniel Lubin emphasized the need for a court-appointed monitor due to past inconsistencies between Meta’s representations and practices regarding safety features.
Fallon McNulty from NCMEC discussed limits in user-based reporting on Facebook Messenger due to end-to-end encryption, concerns over AI age classifiers generating false reports, reluctance among law enforcement agencies to trust CyberTips from Meta because of quality issues, and noted other platforms like Google have higher success rates detecting novel CSAM material proactively. Dr. Brian Levine testified current technology makes accurate age verification for under-13 users feasible, while Zachary Ward presented findings linking social media use with increased mental health harms among youth in New Mexico.
Michel Protti from Meta acknowledged feasibility for parental consent requirements for all under-18 users opting out of private settings, default notification blocks during school hours with exceptions, oversight by a court-appointed monitor on age assurance elements ordered by the state, technical capability for detecting under-13 users via content signals rather than universal predictive models, and admitted compliance plans could be implemented depending on legal developments.
The New Mexico Attorney General serves as chief legal officer for the state and provides services across all counties while advancing justice through civil litigation and criminal prosecutions, fostering trust through community outreach initiatives, supporting consumers and law enforcement efforts statewide according to the official website.
