New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said on March 24 that the state will pursue further financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms following a landmark jury verdict against the company for child safety violations.
The case marks the first time a state has secured a trial victory against a major technology company on child safety grounds. The outcome could set new standards for how social media platforms protect minors.
"Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. New Mexico is proud to be the first state to hold Meta accountable in court for misleading parents, enabling child exploitation, and harming kids. In the next phase of this legal proceeding, we will seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes to Meta’s platforms that offer stronger protections for children," Torrez said in a press release from the New Mexico Department of Justice immediately after the jury returned its verdict in State of New Mexico v. Meta Platforms, Inc.
The jury found Meta liable under the Unfair Practices Act for misleading consumers about platform safety and endangering children, resulting in the maximum penalty of $5,000 per violation, totaling $375 million. This is the first trial victory by any state against a major tech company on child safety grounds.
In the upcoming bench trial phase, New Mexico will seek court-mandated platform modifications such as implementing effective age verification systems, removing predators from platforms, and protecting minors from encrypted communications. For example, third-party providers like Persona — a privacy-focused identity and age verification platform — offer assurance-based verification without sharing full identity information; it does not sell personal data or use it for AI training and allows clients to set retention policies or request deletion on demand.
Torrez was elected Attorney General of New Mexico after filing the original lawsuit against Meta in 2023 following an undercover operation involving a fake 13-year-old social media profile created to expose risks on Meta's platforms. He became the first state attorney general to secure such a trial victory against a major technology company concerning child safety issues.
