New Mexico's Attorney General, Raúl Torrez, is collaborating with state lawmakers to draft two new bills aimed at bolstering consumer protections and child safety online. This initiative follows a court victory earlier this year against Meta, the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram.
In March, a jury determined that Meta had misled its users regarding the safety of its platforms and facilitated harm, including child sexual exploitation. This ruling resulted in a fine of nearly $1bn against the social media giant. The trial marked the first instance of Meta being held liable for harmful acts occurring on its platforms.
Torrez is also pursuing additional lawsuits, including a second case against Meta and another against an AI company whose chatbot has reportedly fostered emotional attachment in children. The proposed legislation is expected to be announced in the coming weeks and will extend beyond social media to create a broader consumer protection framework for emerging technologies like artificial intelligence and chatbots.
Earlier this month, a judge ordered Meta to pay $567m in the second phase of a case brought by the state. This sum will primarily fund youth mental health treatment, with the remainder allocated to awareness, prevention, and screening services. The court also mandated reforms for five years, including age verification, enhanced safeguards against child sexual exploitation, overnight push notification limits, and mandatory time-use limits for users under 18. Meta has stated it disagrees with the ruling and plans to appeal.