New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez has asked a state district judge in Santa Fe to order Meta Platforms Inc. to pay $953 million. This amount is intended to fund efforts to abate public harm to children and teenagers caused by social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp. The state's request follows a six-week trial where a jury determined that Meta had violated New Mexico's Unfair Trade Practices Act by misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children, leading to an initial civil penalty of $375 million.
The $953 million figure represents a revised request from the state, significantly lower than the $3.7 billion that Meta had initially claimed New Mexico was seeking. According to Chief Deputy Attorney General James Grayson, the $3.7 billion figure was an expert's estimate for addressing the child mental health crisis in New Mexico "as a whole," while the $953 million specifically attributes 21% of that crisis to social media. This 21% is derived from an expert's estimation of the portion of child mental health interventions, including law enforcement and prevention efforts, that can be directly attributed to social media.
Meta, however, argues that New Mexico is not entitled to any monetary relief. If the court decides to award damages, Meta suggests a much lower figure, ranging between $3.5 million and $27 million, would be more equitable. This case is part of a two-phase trial; the first phase concluded with the $375 million civil penalty, and the second phase, a 13-day bench trial, focused on whether Meta's actions constituted a public nuisance and the extent of changes the company might be required to make to its platforms.
