Santa Fe, New Mexico — Closing arguments are scheduled Monday in a landmark trial in New Mexico where social media is at a standstill dead It is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children.
Jurors will take up the case after arguments and six weeks of testimony from dozens of witnesses, including teachers, psychiatric experts, state investigators, top Meta officials and whistleblowers who have left the company.
The case filed in New Mexico state court is among the first to reach trial in a wave of lawsuits related to social media platforms and their impact on children.
Plaintiffs in New Mexico They charged dead — which owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp — by prioritizing profits over safety in violation of state consumer protection laws. They have raised concerns about the safety of complex algorithms and a variety of messaging features and settings.
Meta’s lawyers dispute the allegations and say Company Includes teen and weed protections Harmful contentwhile also acknowledging that some potentially malicious posts bypass their safety nets.
The second stage of the trial is followed by the judge who decides whether Meta has caused a public nuisance and should be on the hook financially to fund programs to address the alleged harm to children.
Attorney General Raul Torrez filed a lawsuit in 2023, accusing Meta of creating a market and “breeding ground” for predators who target children for sexual exploitation and failing to disclose what it knew about those harmful effects. State investigators created social media accounts posing as children to document online sexual solicitations and retaliation from Meta.
Meta’s lawyers said the company is being honest with the platform’s users about aggressive but incomplete efforts to enforce the ban on child sexual abuse material. They also accuse prosecutors of cherry-picking evidence and conducting shoddy investigations.
Meta executives asserted during the trial that the company is continually working to improve safety and address compulsive social media use without violating freedom of expression or censoring users.
A jury made up of residents of Santa Fe County, including the state’s politically progressive capital, will decide whether Meta violated the state’s unfair practices law on three counts, including “unconscionable” business practices.
A finding of willful violations would open the way to potential fines of up to $5,000 per violation. Prosecutors say that could run into the billions of dollars given the number of people using Meta’s platforms in New Mexico, though Meta said it would seek a different calculation.
Technology companies are protected from liability for material posted on their social media platforms under Article 230a 30-year-old provision of the US Communications Decency Act, as well as the shield of the First Amendment.
Prosecutors say New Mexico is not seeking to hold Meta accountable for the content on its platforms, but rather to hold Meta accountable for its role in disseminating that content through complex algorithms that disseminate potentially addictive material that harms children.
In California, the jury has already been sequestered in its deliberations Whether Meta and YouTube should be held liable About the harm caused to children who use their platforms. This groundbreaking case could affect how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies proceed.