A New Mexico jury already hit Meta with a $375 million verdict in a child safety case. Now the bill could get much larger. Starting Monday, a three-week public nuisance trial opens in Santa Fe where attorneys will argue over court-ordered changes to Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.
The remedies New Mexico AG Raúl Torrez is pursuing go further than the money. He wants the judge to mandate age verification for New Mexico users, ban end-to-end encryption for users under 18, and cap their daily use at 90 minutes. If granted, these are operational changes to three of the world's most-used platforms, imposed by a single state court.
The damages verdict was the headline. This trial is the story. The specific injunctive demands, the legal arguments Meta is using to resist them, and the judge's likely scope of authority are worth reading in full.
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