Mark Zuckerberg’s Meta is threatening a total shutdown of Facebook and Instagram in New Mexico if a state judge orders the company to adopt new safety features, according to a court filing Thursday.
The threat from Meta comes just weeks after a New Mexico jury slapped the company with $375 million in civil penalties and ruled that the company failed to protect kids from sexual predators on its apps. A state judge will decide what changes Meta must make to fix the problem at the second phase of the trial, which begins on May 4.
In its lengthy filing ahead of the bench trial, Meta warned that the “State’s requests for relief are so broad and so burdensome, that if implemented it might force Meta to withdraw its apps entirely from the State of New Mexico as an alternative way of complying with the injunction.”
“It does not make economic or engineering sense for Meta to build separate apps just for New Mexico residents,” Meta’s attorneys added. “Nor could Meta guarantee the perfection the State demands, making it impractical for Meta to operate in New Mexico.”
The filing drew a scathing response from New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, who said Meta was “showing the world how little it cares about child safety.”
“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 said in a statement. “We know Meta has the ability to make these changes.”
“For years the company has rewritten its own rules, redesigned its products, and even bent to the demands of dictators to preserve market access,” Torrez added. “Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue, and profit.”
New Mexico prosecutors are expected to argue that Meta should enact several changes to protect its young users from harm, including an effective age verification process for accounts and recommendation algorithms that prioritize user safety over boosting how much time they spend on the apps.
State officials also want Meta to display warning labels about the risks of using its apps, permanent bans for any adults found to be engaging in child abuse or exploitation, and an independent oversight committee to ensure the company’s compliance.
When reached for comment, a Meta spokesperson said the state’s demands are “technically impractical, impossible for any company to meet and disregard the realities of the internet.”
“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 in a statement. “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.”
Meta has previously said it disagreed with the jury’s initial verdict and plans to appeal.
In March, Meta spokesman Andy Stone downplayed the $375 million judgment, writing on X that it was “just a fraction of what the State sought.” New Mexico had requested $2 billion in penalties for violations of state law.
The legal fight in New Mexico is just one of many headaches for Meta, which also recently lost a landmark case in Los Angeles state court on behalf of a woman identified as KGM, who alleged Instagram and YouTube fueled her downward spiral of anxiety and depression.
Meta also faces a wave of litigation from school districts, state attorneys general and individuals in California federal court across multiple trials, the first of which is slated to begin in June.
