Overview
- New Mexico’s case entered a juryless bench phase Monday, with Judge Bryan Biedscheid to decide if Meta’s platforms constitute a public nuisance and what remedies to impose.
- The state is pressing for about $3.7 billion in abatement funding plus 28 platform changes, including age checks to block under‑13 users, deletion of underage accounts, one‑strike bans for adults tied to exploitation, a 99% detection target for new child sexual abuse material, and limits on teen notifications.
- Meta says the demands are unworkable or conflict with other laws, citing First Amendment and Section 230 issues and possible clashes with federal children’s privacy rules, and it has warned it may cut off services in New Mexico if forced to comply.
- Signaling concern about overreach, the judge said he is not a legislator or regulator, while the state began calling witnesses, including a suicide prevention coordinator and a child‑exploitation investigator.
- A March jury already found Meta violated New Mexico’s consumer law and ordered $375 million, and legal experts say this bench ruling could influence a mid‑June federal school‑district trial and guide copycat remedies that would change how teens use Instagram and Facebook or even lose access in the state.