A recording of Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's deposition was played for jurors on 4 March 2026 in Santa Fe, New Mexico. The tech giant has threatened to block access to Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp in New Mexico, an unprecedented move in its home country. The ultimatum comes after the company was found liable and fined $375 million for child safety failures in a landmark lawsuit brought by the state's attorney general.
Remedies Phase Looms
The second phase of the suit, known as the remedies phase, is scheduled to begin on Monday and will determine what actions Meta must take. Should the company lose this phase, it would be compelled to introduce a series of reforms to its products. The New Mexico Department of Justice argues these changes would make Meta's social networks safer for underage users. Meta has argued these reforms are unfeasible, leaving it with little option but to withdraw its services entirely.
"Many of the requests are technologically or practically infeasible and would essentially force Meta to build entirely separate apps for use only in New Mexico," states Meta's court filing. "Therefore, granting onerous relief could compel Meta to entirely withdraw Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from the state as the only feasible means of compliance."
Reforms Deemed Too Costly
A revamp would include building and operating two different versions of Teen Accounts for Facebook and Instagram, which Meta claims would be technologically challenging and costly. New Mexico's Attorney General, Raúl Torrez, who filed the lawsuit, called the threat to withdraw a "PR stunt."
"We know Meta has the ability to make these changes. For years, the company has rewritten its own rules, redesigned its products and even bent to the demands of dictators to preserve market access. This is not about technological capability. Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue, and profit," Torrez said.
First Phase Verdict
A verdict for the first phase of the trial was reached in March. A jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties after finding the company misled consumers about platform safety and enabled harms including child sexual exploitation. The lawsuit was filed by the state attorney general in December 2023, marking the first jury trial to hold Meta liable for actions on its platform. It followed a Guardian investigation published in April 2023 that found Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking.
Second Phase Bench Trial
The second phase is a bench trial expected to last three weeks. The New Mexico Department of Justice will argue that Meta's platforms constitute a public nuisance and seek court-ordered reforms to protect children. These include effective age verification to prevent adults from posing as minors, ensuring all teens receive appropriate safeguards, enforcing minimum age requirements for pre-teens, safer recommendation algorithms, prominent warning labels about platform risks, permanent bans for adults who engage in or facilitate child exploitation, and restrictions on end-to-end encryption for minors to prevent predators from operating in secrecy.
The proposed reforms would be enforced by independent oversight through a court-appointed child safety monitor. In a virtual press conference on 30 April, Torrez said his office is exploring qualified independent technical monitors from around the country, but a specific candidate has not yet been identified.
Meta's Response
"The New Mexico attorney general's focus on a single platform is a misguided strategy that ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use daily. Rather than providing comprehensive protections, the state's proposed mandates infringe on parental rights and stifle free expression for all New Mexicans," said a Meta spokesperson.
When asked by the Guardian whether other platforms would be required to adopt these measures, or if the state plans to introduce child safety regulations across all platforms, a spokesperson for the New Mexico attorney general's office said its current focus is on Meta because it has been found liable in court.
In Meta's most recent filing, it argued against the state's allegation that its platforms are a public nuisance, stating that Meta does not compel anyone to use its services. "Were it otherwise, fast-food chains would be liable for creating a public nuisance by selling food that can contribute to obesity," the filing states.
