New Mexico Seeks $3.7B, Sweeping Meta Platform Changes in Youth Harm Trial

The US state of New Mexico on Monday asked a judge to declare Meta Platforms a public nuisance, order the company to pay $3.7bn and overhaul its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms to protect young users.

“Across the country, children are begging for help,” David Ackerman, an attorney for New Mexico, told the court in opening statements. “You will hear testimony that confirms there is a mental health crisis, and that it is fuelled and caused by social media. We need to fix it.”

The case stems from a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, accusing Meta of designing its platforms to addict young users and failing to protect children from sexual exploitation.

The trial, which Reuters is monitoring via Courtroom View Network, marks the second phase of New Mexico’s action against the social media company. A jury in March found Meta had violated the state’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp for young users, and ordered the company to pay $375m in damages. Meta has said it will appeal that verdict.

Meta says it has taken extensive steps to ensure the safety of young users.

In this phase, the judge will decide whether the company’s platforms constitute a “public nuisance” under New Mexico law — a finding that could allow wide-ranging remedies aimed at curbing alleged harm to young users.

The case is being closely watched as states, municipalities and school districts across the US pursue similar claims seeking industry-wide reforms.

Public nuisance claims have traditionally targeted conduct affecting public health or safety, such as blocking roads or polluting waterways. However, governments have increasingly used them in litigation involving tobacco, opioids, climate change and vaping.

Alex Parkinson, an attorney for Meta, told the judge in opening statements that the state has not alleged interference with a recognised “public right”, such as access to air or water. Instead, he said New Mexico’s case is based on injuries suffered by individual users.

“If social media is a public nuisance, then so is alcohol because of drunk driving, so are mobile phones because of distracted driving, so are supermarkets that sell junk food,” Parkinson said.

Potential ‘Overreach’

Torrez’s office is seeking billions of dollars to address what it describes as harm to youth mental health caused by Meta, as well as court-ordered changes to its platforms for users in New Mexico.

Proposed measures include age verification, redesigning algorithms to promote higher-quality content for minors, and disabling autoplay and infinite scroll for under-18 users, according to court filings.

Before opening statements, Judge Bryan Biedscheid said that after reviewing pre-trial filings, he was concerned that some of the requested changes could amount to “overreach”.

“I am a judge, I am not a legislator, I am not a regulator,” Biedscheid said, adding that he wanted to ensure any proven harms were addressed without turning the court into a “one-person legislature”.

Parkinson said Meta was willing to make changes, but argued New Mexico was seeking a regulatory shift more appropriate for lawmakers. He said the proposed remedies, if imposed, would make it “untenable” for Meta to operate in the state.

“I am telling you that as an officer of the court who understands my client’s position. This is not a PR stunt, it is not a threat,” he said.

Ackerman countered that Meta had only offered to implement measures it already uses for child safety. “Meta does not impose or implement safety procedures until it is forced to do so,” he said.

New Mexico’s case is among hundreds of lawsuits accusing Meta and other social media companies of designing addictive products for young users, contributing to a nationwide mental health crisis.

Meta warned investors last week that legal and regulatory pressure in the European Union and the United States “could significantly impact our business and financial results”.

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