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Today, he went dead On trial in New Mexico for allegedly failing to protect minors from sexual exploitation on its apps, including Facebook and Instagram. The state claims Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act by implementing design features and algorithms that created dangerous conditions for users. Now, more than two years after the case was filed, opening arguments have begun in Santa Fe.
It’s a big week for Meta in court: A landmark social media trial also kicks off today in California, the country’s first legal test of… Social media addiction. This case is part of a “JCCP,” or Judicial Council Coordinated Proceedings, which brings together several civil lawsuits focusing on similar issues.
The plaintiffs in this case allege that social media companies They designed their products in a sloppy way They cause various harms to minors using their applications. Snap, TikTok, and Google are named as defendants alongside Meta; Snap and TikTok have already stabilized. The fact that Meta did not do so means that some of the company’s top executives may be called to testify in the coming weeks.
Meta executives, including Mark Zuckerberg, are unlikely to testify directly in the New Mexico trial. But the actions may still be noteworthy for several reasons. It is the first stand-alone state-led case against Meta that has actually been tried in the United States. It’s also a highly charged case alleging child sexual exploitation that will ultimately rely on highly technical arguments, including what it means to “mislead” the public, how algorithmic amplification works on social media, and what protections Meta and other social media platforms have through Section 230.
Although top Meta officials may not be required to appear in person, executive briefings and testimony from other witnesses could still provide an interesting look into the inner workings of the company as it established policies around underage users and responded to complaints claiming it did not do enough to protect them.
Meta has not yet given any indication that it plans to settle. The company has denied the allegations, and Meta spokesman Aaron Simpson previously told WIRED: “While New Mexico makes inflammatory, irrelevant and distracting arguments, we are focused on demonstrating our long-term commitment to supporting young people… We are proud of the progress we have made, and are always working to do better.”
These two trials represent “the split screen of Mark Zuckerberg’s nightmares: a landmark trial in Los Angeles over children’s addiction to Facebook and Instagram, and a trial in New Mexico revealing how Meta enabled predators to use social media to exploit and abuse children,” Sascha Haworth, executive director of the Technology Oversight Project, a technology industry watchdog, said in an email statement.
“These are the experiences of a generation,” Haworth added. “Just as the world watched courtrooms hold Big Tobacco and Big Pharma accountable, we will, for the first time, see Big Tech CEOs like Zuckerberg take their stand.”
Cost of doing business
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed his complaint against Meta in December 2023. It alleged that Meta proactively provided explicit content to underage users, enabled adults to exploit children on the platform, allowed Facebook and Instagram users to easily find child pornography, and allowed the investigator in the case, who purported to be a mother, to introduce her underage daughter to sex traffickers.
The trial is expected to last over seven weeks. The jury was chosen last week, a panel of 10 women and eight men (12 jurors and six alternates). New Mexico First Judicial District Judge Brian Bedscheid is presiding over the case.