A New Mexico jury is considering whether Meta violated consumer protection laws by failing to adequately warn about risks its social media platforms pose to children. The trial, now in its seventh week, could result in billions in penalties if Meta is found guilty of deceptive business practices.
SANTA FE, N.M. — Jurors in New Mexico are reviewing extensive testimony and evidence in a landmark case examining what social media giant Meta understood about how its platforms affect young users.
New Mexico prosecutors claim Meta failed to adequately warn about dangers its platforms create for children, including mental health issues and sexual predation. Defense lawyers for Meta argue the company has implemented safety measures for teens and removes harmful material, though they admit some dangerous content slips through their screening systems.
The case has now reached its seventh week, with jurors not yet beginning deliberations. Should the jury determine that Meta — parent company of Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — broke New Mexico’s consumer protection statutes, prosecutors indicate penalties could reach billions of dollars. Meta disputes this calculation and seeks a different penalty structure.
Beginning February 9, this trial represents one of the earliest cases in a wave of litigation targeting Meta, occurring as school systems and lawmakers push for greater smartphone restrictions in educational settings.
A planned second trial phase, potentially scheduled for May with only a judge deciding, would examine whether Meta’s social media platforms constitute a public nuisance requiring the company to fund corrective public programs.
Meta faces three charges of breaking New Mexico’s Unfair Trade Practices Act, which shields consumers from misleading or exploitative business conduct.
Following final arguments, jurors must determine if Meta deliberately misrepresented platform dangers through omission or active hiding of information.
This lawsuit might bypass or contest immunity protections that shield technology companies from responsibility for user-posted content under Section 230, a three-decade-old component of the U.S. Communications Decency Act, plus First Amendment defenses.
In California, another jury is already deliberating whether social media corporations bear responsibility for harm to children using their services, in one of three key cases that may influence thousands of similar lawsuits.
New Mexico’s lawsuit rests on different evidence — including a state undercover operation where investigators established fake social media profiles pretending to be minors to document sexual approaches and Meta’s responses.
The 2023 lawsuit from New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez also contends that social media addiction risks haven’t been properly disclosed or addressed by Meta. While Meta doesn’t acknowledge social media addiction as real, company leaders recognize “problematic use” and claim they want users to have positive experiences on Meta’s platforms.
Among thousands of document pages, the New Mexico proceedings examine numerous internal Meta records and communications. Jurors have heard from Meta leadership, platform developers, former employees turned whistleblowers, mental health professionals and technology safety experts.
The jury may also consider testimony from local educators who have dealt with social media-related disruptions, including sharing of violent and sexually graphic content, plus online extortion targeting New Mexico children.
Two additional consumer protection violation charges claim Meta engaged in “unconscionable” business practices that were extremely unfair.
During opening statements, prosecutor Donald Migliori stressed allegations that Meta unconscionably targeted children for social media engagement as a long-term revenue source while aware of sexual exploitation risks on social platforms. Meta challenges this by pointing to platform safety tools and content filtering for teenagers, whom Meta views as influencers with limited buying power for advertisers.
Jurors would determine if the behavior was “willful” and deserves civil fines up to $5,000 per violation, and may help count total violations.
Torrez suggests these fines could accumulate significantly given New Mexico’s Meta platform user numbers. However, Meta requests limiting sanctions to one penalty per misleading statement or trade violation — not per social media view or user.
State District Judge Bryan Biedscheid oversees both trial phases. He would rule on nuisance claims as the case proceeds — and whether the company must pay financial damages.
Prosecutors accuse Meta of recklessly establishing a marketplace and “breeding ground” for predators targeting children for sexual abuse. They claim Meta’s platforms also damage teenage mental health through various means — including sleep loss, depression and self-injury.
Meta’s legal team accuses prosecutors of selective evidence use and poor investigative methods that may have worsened problems.
During testimony, Meta executives outlined comprehensive systems for identifying child sexual abuse content on platforms and alerting authorities — while noting the company warns users that enforcement isn’t perfect.
“We believe it’s important to disclose the risks, but to do so in a consistent and rigorous way,” Instagram head Adam Mosseri testified, describing an approach that includes blog posts, user agreements and other communications.
In recorded testimony shown at trial, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg stated that “safety is extremely important for the service and having it be something that people trust and want to use over time.” He noted Meta stopped tying business performance metrics directly to user time spent on platforms in 2017.
Torrez plans to seek court-mandated changes to Meta’s business operations and remedies for social media harm to children.
“We’re going to have meaningful investments in targeted strategic programming around how you use the internet and how you use social media in ways that are responsible and healthy,” he stated on the trial’s first day.
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