Closing arguments begin in Meta trial over child safety

A New Mexico jury will soon decide whether social media giant Meta misrepresented the safety for children and teens on its platforms. Closing arguments began Monday afternoon in the six-week trial over accusations that Meta failed to protect child users from sexual abuse, online solicitation, and human trafficking. Prosecution attorney Linda Singer told the jury on Monday that minors are obsessing over Meta products, have lost control, and that Meta knew of such problems but didn’t disclose them. She added that testimony and evidence showed Meta’s algorithms recommended extreme content to teenagers. The company failed to really enforce its minimum user age of 13, she argued.

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez sued Meta over the accusations in December 2023, eventually leading to the trial that kicked off the second week of February 2026. The trial included testimony from former and current Meta employees, teachers, psychiatrists, and state investigators. Meta owns Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp.

What kind of arguments are being made? The state has accused Meta of knowingly making false and misleading statements about safety to consumers. Torrez’s office accused Meta of prioritizing profits over safety and downplaying the dangers of its platforms, despite internal documents and employee testimony clearly showing the company knew about the dangers. Meta was more concerned about platform growth and increasing user engagement than protecting children from sexual exploitation or preventing mental health impacts, state attorneys argued.

Meta’s attorneys insisted the company worked hard to protect the mental health of teens, and cited several company measures preventing online sexual abuse. The company directly warned users that predators may misuse platforms like Facebook and Instagram, and Meta has built several tools to protect against those predators reaching teens, the company’s attorneys argued. The company pointed to liability protection from user-posted material under Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act of 1996, and free speech rights under the First Amendment.

How is the other social media trial going in California? A Los Angeles jury has been sequestered as it deliberates whether Meta and Google intentionally designed their platforms to be addictive to children. That case was brought by a 19-year-old woman. It remains unclear when verdicts in the two trials will be reached. 

Dig deeper: Read my previous report about the New Mexico trial’s opening statements last month.