Investigation of Meta heads to trial in New Mexico

New Mexico's case is built on a state undercover investigation using proxy social media accounts and posing as kids to document sexual solicitations and the response from Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. It could give US states a new legal pathway to go after social media companies over how their platforms affect children, by using consumer protection and nuisance laws.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed suit in 2023, accusing Meta of creating a marketplace and "breeding ground" for predators who target children for sexual exploitation and failing to disclose what it knew about those harmful effects.

"So many regulators are keyed up looking for any evidence of a legal theory that would punish social media that a victory in that case could have ripple effects throughout the country, and the globe," said Eric Goldman, co-director of the High Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law in California.

"Whatever the jury says will be of substantial interest."

The trial, with opening statements scheduled for February 9, could last nearly two months. 

Meta denies the civil charges and says prosecutors are taking a "sensationalist" approach.

CEO Mark Zuckerberg was dropped as a defendant in the case, but he has been deposed and documents in the case carry his name. 

Prosecutors say New Mexico is not seeking to hold Meta accountable for content on its platforms, but rather its role in pushing out that content through complex algorithms that proliferate material that can be addictive and harmful to children.

The approach could sidestep immunity provisions for social media platforms under a First Amendment shield and Section 230, a 30-year-old provision of the US Communications Decency Act that has protected tech companies from liability for material posted on their platforms.

An undercover investigation by the US state created several decoy accounts for minors 14 and younger, documented the arrival of online sexual solicitations and monitored Meta's responses when the behaviour was brought to the company's attention. 

The US state says Meta's responses placed profits ahead of children's safety. 

Torrez has urged Meta to implement more effective age verification and remove bad actors from its platform. 

He's also seeking changes to algorithms that can serve up harmful material and criticising end-to-end privacy encryption that can prevent the monitoring of communications with children for safety.

Meta denies the civil charges while accusing the attorney general of cherry-picking select documents and making "sensationalist, irrelevant and distracting arguments."

Australian Associated Press