SANTA FE, N.M. — Meta has raised the prospect of pulling its social media platforms entirely from New Mexico rather than comply with sweeping child safety requirements sought by the state, according to a court filing unsealed Thursday.
The warning comes days before a bench trial is set to begin May 4 in Santa Fe, in which Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid will hear the state’s public nuisance claim and determine what remedies Meta must implement following a landmark jury verdict in March.
The Verdict That Triggered the Confrontation
A Santa Fe jury in March found Meta liable for 75,000 violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties — the maximum allowed under state law, according to a press release from the New Mexico Department of Justice.
The jury found that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The case originated in 2023 when investigators from the New Mexico Department of Justice created a social media profile posing as a 13-year-old and found the account was almost immediately targeted by adults seeking to exploit a child.
“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” Attorney General Raúl Torrez said following the March verdict, per the NMDOJ. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew.”
What New Mexico Is Demanding
In the upcoming bench trial, the state is seeking injunctive relief that would fundamentally restructure how Meta operates for users under 18, including mandatory age verification, private-by-default accounts for minors, bans on addictive features such as infinite scroll, a 90-hour monthly usage cap for minors, highly accurate detection of child sexual abuse material, and the appointment of a court-supervised child safety monitor, according to the Associated Press.
Meta’s Response: ‘Impossible Obligations’
In a court filing, Meta described the state’s proposed remedies as “in many cases technologically impractical or completely impossible,” warning that complying would effectively require the company to build New Mexico-specific versions of its apps, according to the Associated Press.
Meta singled out the requirement to detect at least 99% of all new child sexual abuse material and a 99% accurate age verification system confirming users are at least 13, calling both technically infeasible. The company also objected to removing infinite scroll, which it described as a foundational feature of its platforms.
“As a practical matter, this requirement effectively requires Meta to shut down its services — for all users in the state — or else comply with impossible obligations,” Meta said in the filing.
In a statement, Meta added: “While it is not in Meta’s interests to do so, if a workable solution to Attorney General Torrez’s demands is not reached, we may have no choice but to remove access to its platforms for users in New Mexico entirely,” according to Fortune, which obtained the statement directly.
A Meta spokesperson also pushed back on the framing of the case: “In targeting a single platform, the State ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use, leaving parents without the comprehensive support they actually deserve,” the spokesperson said.
Torrez Calls It a ‘PR Stunt’
Attorney General Torrez dismissed the shutdown threat and rejected Meta’s claims of technical limitations.
“Meta is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,” Torrez said Thursday, per Fortune. “Meta’s refusal to follow the laws that protect our kids tells you everything you need to know about this company and the character of its leaders.”
Torrez argued the capability argument does not hold up: “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.”
“I highly doubt that they’re going to be willing and able to turn the lights off for their product all over the country,” Torrez said in a separate news conference, per the Associated Press.
A First-of-Its-Kind Case
New Mexico’s case is the first among more than 40 lawsuits filed by state attorneys general alleging that Meta’s platforms contribute to a mental health crisis among young people to reach trial, according to the Associated Press. A shutdown would affect roughly 2.1 million New Mexico residents, severing personal communications and commercial advertising conducted through Meta’s platforms.
The bench trial before Chief Judge Biedscheid is scheduled to begin May 4, 2026. If Meta loses, it will be ordered to implement the court-mandated reforms or cease operations in the state.
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