Trial begins over allegations of child sexual exploitation on Meta platforms

Opening arguments began Monday in New Mexico’s lawsuit against Meta, accusing the social media giant of misrepresenting the safety of its platforms for children and teens. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez first accused Meta of failing to protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation, and human trafficking in a December 2023 lawsuit.

The parent company of Instagram, Facebook, and WhatsApp engaged in unfair practices by knowingly making false and misleading statements about safety to consumers, state attorney Donald Migliori told jurors Monday. This trial’s theme will be Meta prioritizing profits over safety, he said. Meta downplayed or outright lied about the dangers tied to its platforms, while internal operations clearly showed safety was not a corporate priority, Migliori said. Testimony from current and former employees, along with teachers and investigators, will show Meta is far more concerned about growth and engagement than protecting against sexual exploitation and mental health impacts, he added.

Meta’s defense attorney insisted the company worked hard to protect the mental health of teens, and cited several company measures prevent sexual abuse online. Meta directly warns users that predators may misuse Facebook or Instagram to contact teens, and Meta has built tools to stop predators from communicating with teens, he said. Meta actively searches for and reports predators to law enforcement, and has helped put hundreds of criminals behind bars, the attorney said. Meta’s policies expressly banned content promoting suicide, self-injury, eating disorders, and child exploitation.

Wasn’t the case being tried in Los Angeles? Two separate Meta trials began Monday, one in New Mexico and the other in Los Angeles. At the Los Angeles County Superior Court, Meta and Google battled claims that each intentionally designed their platforms, Instagram and YouTube, to be addictive to children. A publicly unidentified 19-year-old plaintiff brought the Los Angeles case, claiming that using social media from a young age caused her to become addicted and worsened her depression and suicidal thoughts.

Dig deeper: Read Elizabeth Black’s previous report for more background on the Los Angeles trial.