New Mexico Judge Could Force Sweeping Changes to Facebook and Instagram

High-Stakes Courtroom Battle Begins

A groundbreaking trial began Monday in Santa Fe that could fundamentally reshape how Meta operates Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. Opening statements are scheduled Monday in the three-week bench trial to decide whether the platforms of Meta, which also owns Facebook and WhatsApp, pose a public nuisance under state law — a finding that would allow him to order wide‑ranging remedies aimed at curbing alleged harms to young users. This second phase follows a historic jury verdict that ordered $375 million in civil penalties against Meta, determining that it knowingly harmed children's mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms.

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. With this verdict, New Mexico becomes the first state in the nation to prevail at trial against a major tech company for harming young people. The stakes couldn't be higher for both sides.

Meta has responded with an extraordinary threat. If the orders are intolerable, Meta has indicated, it will pull Facebook and Instagram from New Mexico altogether. Meta has vowed to appeal the jury verdict and warned that it could eliminate Instagram and Facebook service in New Mexico if forced to comply with impractical mandates.

Radical Platform Overhaul Demanded

New Mexico prosecutors aren't asking for minor tweaks. 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. Torrez's office is expected to seek both billions of dollars more in damages and an order requiring Meta to make substantial changes to its platforms for New Mexico users, including adding age verification; redesigning its algorithm to promote quality content for minors; and ending autoplay and infinite scroll for minors.

Prosecutors are also targeting other features linked to compulsive use such as "infinite scroll," which continuously loads content; push notifications; and default settings that show tallies for "likes" and sharing. 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 improvements over time. The proposed changes would essentially force Meta to rebuild its core engagement systems from the ground up.

The lawsuit stems from a disturbing investigation. Torrez filed it in late 2023, citing an undercover operation by his office that involved creating a fake Instagram profile of a 13-year-old girl. The account, he later told CNBC, was "simply inundated with images and targeted solicitations" from users seeking to abuse children.

Meta's Defense Strategy

Meta is fighting back on multiple fronts. The company is invoking free speech protections that have shielded social media for decades. "The state's proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans," Meta said last week in a statement. The company argues it's being unfairly targeted while other platforms remain unregulated.

The company also argues that its platforms are being singled out among hundreds of apps that teens use, leaving children vulnerable on platforms with less robust protections. The company said in court filings before the trial that there is no scientific evidence to support the idea that social media has caused mental health problems. Legal experts note the novelty of applying public nuisance law to internet platforms.

National Implications

This trial represents far more than a state-level dispute. Torrez, the state attorney general, said that puts the case in a unique position not only "to try and change the paradigm of how this company does business, but also how Big Tech generally is expected to do business going forward." Reuters, in its 2 May curtain-raiser, framed the proceeding plainly: this is the trial that could force changes to Facebook, Instagram, and other Meta platforms in ways the company has been resisting for nearly a decade.

The financial stakes are enormous. Meta is in the midst of a roughly $145 billion AI capex programme, an investment of historic scale by any measure. Meta's mounting child-safety legal exposure could, eventually, cost more than the AI cluster bill. With similar cases pending across the country, the New Mexico outcome could set precedents that reshape the entire social media industry's approach to youth safety.

Judge Bryan Biedscheid now holds unprecedented power to rewrite the rules governing how billions of people interact online. His decision in the coming weeks could either validate Meta's current practices or force the most significant platform redesign in social media history.