The second round of a legal battle that could redefine how social media operates has kicked off in a Santa Fe courtroom. Following a March jury verdict that found Meta guilty of violating consumer protection laws and slapped the company with a $375 million fine, the case is now in the hands of a judge. During the hearings that began on May 4, 2026, State Attorney General Raúl Torrez demanded fundamental changes to the architecture of Meta’s apps, accusing the corporation of creating a public safety hazard.
Prosecutors are seeking the implementation of a comprehensive, $3.7 billion remediation plan. These funds would support education, schools, law enforcement, and mental health facilities. State attorney David Ackerman outlined the scale of the problem during his opening statement:
“Across New Mexico, across the country, children are begging for help”.
The most severe demands target the core technical structure of the American corporation’s products. The state of New Mexico is pushing to legally force the removal of features built to constantly stimulate engagement among the youngest users. Investigators have zeroed in on the infinite scroll mechanism, default push notifications, and visible “like” counts. Furthermore, the state demands an effective age verification system and a mandatory mechanism linking children’s accounts with their legal guardians’ profiles.
The claims are rooted in evidence gathered during the first phase of the trial. As part of “Operation MetaPhile,” state investigators set up dummy accounts posing as minors on Instagram and Facebook. They proved that the platforms’ algorithms rapidly began feeding the young users accounts of adult men and facilitating contact with individuals accused of sex crimes. Prosecutors also flagged the issue of end-to-end encryption on Messenger, which they argue has drastically hindered police efforts to secure digital evidence.
Meta’s lawyers firmly reject the allegations, treating the proposed remedies as impossible to implement from an engineering standpoint. Defense attorney Alex Parkinson argued before the judge that creating a separate, geographically restricted version of the apps exclusively for New Mexico residents is completely unworkable:
“To geo-fence New Mexico users into that version of the apps, new apps for New Mexico, that is not feasible, technologically”.
Mark Zuckerberg’s company is also warning that forcing such invasive technological changes could lead to pulling its services from the state entirely. Corporate representatives cite free speech laws and protections under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act. At the same time, they emphasize that between July and September of last year alone, Meta’s moderation systems proactively took down over 10 million pieces of child exploitation material.