Meta Faces New Mexico Trial Over Youth Addiction Claims

Meta is facing a trial in Santa Fe, New Mexico, that could result in court-ordered changes to how Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp operate, according to Reuters. Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit accusing Meta of designing its products to addict young users and failing to protect them from sexual exploitation. A March jury verdict found Meta violated state consumer protection law and awarded $375 million in damages.

Proposed Remedies and Meta's Opposition

New Mexico plans to seek additional damages and remedies during the trial. The state's proposed fixes include age verification requirements, limits on autoplay and infinite scroll features for minors, rejection of underage accounts with 99% accuracy, a firm 90-hour monthly limit on Meta's platforms, and establishment of a court-appointed Child Safety Monitor to oversee children's online safety with power to inspect Meta's internal systems. The state also wants Meta to limit end-to-end encryption for minors and fund the Child Safety Monitor role for at least five years.

Meta has opposed these demands, arguing they are impractical and unsupported by evidence. The company has warned that court-ordered changes could force it to withdraw from the state.

Broader Regulatory Context

The New Mexico case is part of a wider regulatory push against tech companies that focuses on product design rather than content alone. A California jury recently held Meta and Google liable for harm to a woman who compulsively used Meta's apps and Google's YouTube as a child, treating the services as defective products due to alleged addictive design. This verdict is expected to shape other similar cases.

The regulatory approach aligns with rules such as the European Union's Digital Services Act, which requires large online platforms to take steps addressing systemic risks to minors, including risks from features designed to drive excessive use such as infinite scroll. These cases collectively seek to hold platforms accountable for how their products are built in addition to what users post on them.