Meta platforms are again under scrutiny due to child safety concerns. It comes as a trial is set to begin in New Mexico on Monday that will test the state’s claims that Meta’s Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms have harmed the mental health of young users and led to a court order forcing the company to make changes.
The case stems from a lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, a Democrat, accusing the social media giant of designing its platforms to addict young users and failing to protect children from sexual exploitation on its platforms.
During this phase, the judge will decide whether Meta’s Facebook and Instagram platforms have created a “public nuisance” under New Mexico law – a finding that would allow him to order sweeping measures aimed at preventing alleged harm to young users.
According to court filings, Torrez’s office is expected to seek damages in excess of billions of dollars and will require Meta to make substantial changes to its platforms for New Mexico users, including age verification; Redesigning the algorithm as per court filings to promote quality content for minors; and eliminating autoplay and infinite scroll for minors.
Meta said it has taken extensive measures to ensure the safety of its young users.
The New Mexico case is one of thousands of lawsuits accusing Meta and other social media companies of knowingly designing products that are addictive to youth, leading to a nationwide mental health crisis.
Meta warned investors last week that legal and regulatory blowback in the EU and US “could have a material impact on our business and financial results” after years of growing criticism about protecting children on social media.
Torrez told reporters at a press conference ahead of the trial that his hope is that the case will “set a new standard for a new set of expectations for how social media companies are expected to operate, not only in the state of New Mexico but nationally and potentially globally.”
“The New Mexico Attorney General’s focus on a single platform is a wrong strategy that ignores the hundreds of other apps that teens use daily,” a Meta spokesperson said in a statement ahead of the trial.
The company said in court filings ahead of the trial that there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that social media has caused mental health problems and that many of the changes Torrez is demanding would be impossible to implement and could force the company to leave the state entirely.
This marked the second phase of the New Mexico lawsuit after a jury in March found Meta violated the state’s consumer protection law by misrepresenting the safety of Facebook and Instagram to young users and ordered the company to pay $375 million in damages.
