Attorneys for Meta and the State of New Mexico will return to a Santa Fe courthouse this Monday for a three-week public nuisance trial focused on potential structural changes to Meta's business operations, according to a report from The Verge.
The litigation follows a landmark ruling earlier this existing year where New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez secured a $375 million judgment against the social media giant over child safety issues. This second phase of the trial shifts focus from monetary damages to court-ordered mandates for Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
New Mexico officials are seeking several significant modifications to how Meta manages its platforms. Proposed changes include implementing age verification for all New Mexico users and prohibiting end-to-end encryption for users under the age of 18.
The state is also requesting a cap on usage for minors at 90 hours per month. Furthermore, the state wants to limit engagement-driven features, specifically citing autoplay and infinite scroll.
Additionally, the state is asking the court to require Meta to detect 99 percent of new child sexual abuse material (CSAM) on its platforms.
While the court's orders would legally apply only to Meta's operations within New Mexico, the tech industry faces potential widespread shifts. The Verge reports that Meta could choose to apply these changes across other states to maintain technical simplicity.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez emphasized that financial penalties alone are insufficient to alter the company's behavior. Speaking to The Verge during a visit to Washington, D.C., Torrez stated, “From the outset, our goal was to try and change the way the company’s doing business. I recognize that even at $375 million for a company this big and this profitable, it’s not enough in and of itself to change the way they’re doing business.”
Torrez added that there is likely a segment of the company that views such penalties as merely "the cost of doing business."
Meta has previously suggested it might pull its apps from the New Mexico market if forced to implement changes it deems 'technologically impractical,' according to The Verge.
