Meta in the Hot Seat – New Mexico Says Facebook and Instagram Became a “Marketplace for Predators”

The Guardian and AOL contributed to this report.

Meta heads to trial in Santa Fe this week as New Mexico accuses the social-media giant of letting predators groom and traffic kids on Facebook and Instagram – and of putting engagement and profits ahead of safety.

After a week of jury selection, opening statements in the landmark case start Feb. 9. Attorney General Raúl Torrez’s office says the state will show evidence that Meta’s product and design choices created environments where sexual exploitation, solicitation, sextortion and human trafficking could thrive. The case could run about seven weeks.

Torrez has been blunt: he told investigators and the press he sees Meta as a “marketplace for predators and paedophiles globally.” The lawsuit doesn’t just point to bad actors using the platforms – it argues Meta’s algorithms, features and moderation gaps helped push exploitative content and let commercial sex networks and CSAM (child sexual abuse material) spread.

Prosecutors will play internal documents and chat logs that they say prove Meta knew how widespread the harm was. Among the revelations: Meta’s own estimates that roughly 100,000 children on Facebook and Instagram suffer online sexual harassment every day, and excerpts of user conversations about luring minors. Files linked to a 2024 undercover probe, “Operation MetaPhile,” are expected in court; they detail arrests of three men accused of soliciting what they thought were minors after finding them through Meta’s features.

The state also says Meta sometimes steered undercover decoy accounts toward monetization tips instead of shutting them down, and that executives – reportedly including Mark Zuckerberg – overruled safety staff on certain AI features that could expose kids to sexualized interactions.

Meta denies the charges, calling the attorney general’s approach “sensationalist” and accusing prosecutors of cherry-picking documents. The company points to the safety tools it has added – teen accounts with protections, parental controls, content limits – and says it’s committed to kids’ safety. Zuckerberg was dropped as a named defendant, but his deposition has already been taken and may be shown in court if he doesn’t testify in person.

This isn’t just another “stuff people post” lawsuit. New Mexico frames the case around Meta’s product design and business choices – an angle meant to dodge the usual legal shields like Section 230 and some First Amendment defenses that often protect platforms from liability for user content. If the state succeeds, it could open a new legal pathway for holding tech firms accountable for how their platforms are engineered and monetized.

The Santa Fe trial arrives a week after a major case kicked off in Los Angeles, where families and school districts are suing Meta, YouTube and other platforms over alleged harms to kids’ mental health. Hundreds of plaintiffs are involved in that suit; TikTok and Snap have settled, while Meta and YouTube are still fighting. More than 40 state attorneys general have filed related lawsuits nationwide, so a New Mexico win could echo widely.

Expect testimony from educators, law-enforcement officials and whistleblowers who’ll describe harms they say they’ve seen on Meta’s platforms. The state isn’t planning to put teens or affected families on the stand. Torrez may play parts of Zuckerberg’s deposition if the CEO doesn’t appear. New Mexico’s power to compel out-of-state witnesses to testify in person is limited, which will shape how the state presents remote testimony and documents.

If jurors find Meta engaged in unfair business practices or created a public nuisance, a judge will later decide penalties and remedies. New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act allows fines of $5,000 per violation – but how violations would be counted is not yet clear. Legal experts warn a victory for the state would be a major legal and reputational blow to Meta, potentially shifting how platforms design features aimed at keeping users glued to screens.

Meta insists it’s improving safety; critics say the company has too often ignored or overridden internal warnings. Regulators and campaigners call this one of the defining tests of Big Tech accountability – “the trials of a generation,” as some advocates put it. Whatever the outcome, this trial will be watched closely by judges, lawmakers and parents alike.