SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) 鈥� New Mexico state prosecutors are seeking fundamental changes to Meta’s social media apps and algorithms to safeguard children in the second phase of a landmark trial on allegations that platforms such as Instagram have created a public safety hazard.
Opening statements began Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide whether the platforms of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pose a public nuisance.
In the first phase, jurors ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.
Prosecutors are now asking a judge impose fundamental changes aimed at reining in addictive features, improving and preventing child sexual exploitation through default privacy settings and closer oversight.
Meta has vowed to appeal the jury verdict and warned that it if forced to comply with impractical mandates and multibillion-dollar remedies.
鈥淭he fact that we鈥檙e having a trial on nuisance is itself a remarkable outcome,鈥� said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California. 鈥淭hat theory is not well accepted as applied to the internet, and that theory doesn鈥檛 really fit the internet.鈥�
As the trial reconvened Monday, state District Court Judge Bryan Biedscheid addressed concerns that the court might overreach its authority.
鈥淚鈥檓 probably not the easiest sell on the idea where I would become a one-person legislator, judge and executive branch enforcer,鈥� he said.
Trial could alter algorithms that define social media
New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez said the jury verdict punctured the aura of invincibility protecting tech companies from liability for material on their platforms under , a 30-year-old provision of the U.S. Communications Decency Act.
A Los Angeles jury separately found both Meta and YouTube liable for harms to children, validating long-standing concerns about dangers of social media.
New Mexico prosecutors are demanding that Meta help remedy a mental health crisis among children through a series of safeguards and changes, including a redesign of algorithms that make content recommendations so they no longer prioritize constant engagement.
New Mexico prosecution attorney David Ackerman outlined a $3.7 billion proposal for Meta to remedy harm to children that 鈥渞ecognizes the scope of the public nuisance that Meta has caused.鈥�
鈥淎cross New Mexico, across the country, children are begging for help,” he said in opening statements. 鈥淚t is thorough and it is necessary. There are items in this abatement plan for public education, to assist schools, to assist law enforcement, to assist mental health providers.”
Prosecutors are also targeting other app features linked to compulsive use such as 鈥渋nfinite scroll,鈥� which continuously loads content; push notifications; and default settings that show tallies for 鈥渓ikes鈥� and sharing. Their lawsuit also seeks improvements to and other steps aimed at curbing child sexual exploitation.
And New Mexico wants child accounts on Meta platforms to have an associated parent or guardian, as well as a court-supervised child safety monitor to track safety improvements over time.
Meta asserts free speech protections
Executives have said the company continuously improves child safety and addresses compulsive use and that many demands from prosecutors are redundant.
In opening statements, Meta attorney Alex Parkinson disputed the idea that there is a public right to social media under public nuisance laws.
鈥淎re bars a public nuisance because drinking alcohol is undeniably associated with car fatalities?鈥� Parkinson said. 鈥淚f individual (social media) users have been hurt, they have a remedy — personal injury cases to cover the mental healthcare or any other care that they need. And that is what is happening in other lawsuits right now.鈥�
The company also argues that its platforms are being singled out among hundreds of apps that teens use with less robust protections, while invoking free speech protections.
鈥淭he state鈥檚 proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression,鈥� Meta said last week in a statement.
Influence could be far-reaching
The case is the first to reach trial among lawsuits filed by more than 40 state attorneys general on allegations that Meta contributes to a youth mental health crisis. Most are pursuing remedies in U.S. federal court.
Torrez said he envisions a broad public education campaign to help parents and children navigate social media safely, with new public service warnings on Meta apps.
鈥淎ll of those kids need help, they need counseling, they need therapy,” Torrez said at a news conference Monday, accompanied by parent advocates for social media reforms.
Parkinson said the state鈥檚 $3.7 billion plan goes too far and would reshape the way all mental and behavioral healthcare is delivered to New Mexico teens.
鈥淭he state is asking you to develop from scratch a completely new regulatory regime that far exceeds anything in Europe, in Australia, anywhere,鈥� Parkinson said in reference to a bevy of .
Goldman said prosecutors may be venturing into uncertain legal waters just in seeking age verification mandates.
鈥淚n practice a court order saying that Facebook had to impose age authentication would have no Supreme Court textual support,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he Supreme Court might bless it. We don鈥檛 know.鈥�
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
