Overview
- Meta, in a court filing Thursday, warned it may remove its apps from New Mexico if a judge imposes the state’s proposed child‑safety mandates.
- New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez rejected the warning as a PR stunt and said the company has the ability to make the requested changes.
- The case enters a bench trial Monday, May 4, before Judge Bryan Biedscheid to decide a public‑nuisance claim and potential remedies, following a March jury’s $375 million penalty against Meta.
- The state seeks wide changes for minors’ accounts, including strict age checks that block under‑13 users, linking teen accounts to guardians, limits on recommendation algorithms, an end to end‑to‑end encryption for minors, curbs on infinite scroll and autoplay, warning labels, one‑strike bans for abusive adults, and a court‑appointed safety monitor.
- Meta says several demands are vague or impossible to verify, citing 99% targets for age checks and detecting new child‑abuse images, and Reuters reports the state plans to request about $3.7 billion for a 15‑year teen mental‑health plan that could influence similar cases nationwide.