A showdown brews in Santa Fe. Meta Platforms Inc. has warned a state court it might yank Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from New Mexico altogether. The reason? Demands from Attorney General Raúl Torrez that the company deems impossible to meet. This comes weeks after a jury hit Meta with a $375 million penalty for misleading users on platform safety.
The dispute traces back to 2023. Investigators from Torrez’s office posed as a 13-year-old online. Their account drew immediate predatory messages and images from adults. No safeguards kicked in. That sparked a lawsuit under New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act, sidestepping federal Section 230 protections. In March 2026, a Santa Fe jury sided with the state, finding Meta liable for 75,000 violations—the first such trial win against a tech giant. The Verge first detailed Meta’s court filing.
Torrez isn’t stopping there. He’s pushing for injunctive relief in a bench trial starting May 4 before Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid. His wishlist is long. Block kids under 13 entirely; delete their data; tie teen accounts to parents. Ban adults from messaging minors they’re not connected to. End end-to-end encryption for those under 18. Ditch recommendation algorithms tuned for engagement; swap in ones prioritizing ‘integrity.’ No more infinite scroll, autoplay, or notifications during school and bedtime. Cap minors at 90 hours monthly on the apps. Reinstate undercover cop accounts. And appoint a Meta-funded child safety monitor with full access to internals—for five years minimum. Fortune outlined these specifics.
Meta calls it all unworkable. ‘Fundamentally, many of the requests are so hopelessly vague or ambiguous that enforcing them would violate Meta’s due process rights,’ the company argued in its filing. Achieving 99% detection of new child sexual abuse material? Can’t prove it without catching everything first. Age verification and underage blocks? Would demand New Mexico-only apps. ‘Granting this onerous relief could compel Meta to entirely withdraw Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp from the State as the only feasible means of compliance.’ A spokesperson added: ‘The State’s demands are technically impractical, impossible for any company to meet and disregard the realities of the internet.’ The Verge.
Torrez fired back hard. ‘Meta is showing the world how little it cares about child safety,’ he said. ‘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.’ He dismissed technical excuses: ‘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. This is not about technological capability. Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue, and profit.’ Fortune; KOAT.
Complicating matters: Meta’s deep roots in the state. Since 2016, it’s poured over $2.5 billion into a massive data center campus in Los Lunas, supporting 400 operational jobs and 1,100 at peak construction. Phases keep coming. Last December, Meta snapped up 475 adjacent acres via affiliate Greater Kudu LLC. Village approvals followed: $7.5 billion in industrial revenue bonds, a $350 million LEDA deal channeling taxes to roads. Phase 3, greenlit in late 2024, adds AI-focused buildings at $800 million, pushing total spend toward $3.3 billion. PNM plans solar-plus-storage to power it, targeting 2030 water positivity. Albuquerque Business First; Data Center Dynamics; Meta Data Centers.
Pull the apps—and risk the data center? Meta hasn’t explicitly linked the two. Yet locals buzz. Albuquerque Business First noted the pending expansion amid the app threat. X posts from @ABQBizFirst highlight both. A walkout could jolt the economy. Los Lunas booms from such investments; Meta’s footprint draws fiber, power upgrades, jobs. But child safety weighs heavy. Internal Meta docs from trial revealed encryption rollout could blindspot 7.5 million CSAM reports yearly. One researcher tallied 500,000 daily exploitation cases.
And the pattern repeats nationally. Over 40 state AGs sue Meta on similar grounds. Federal COPPA stalls; KOSA withers. Torrez eyes ripple: force changes in New Mexico, pressure follows elsewhere. Meta counters it’s rolled out 13 teen protections lately. ‘In targeting a single platform, the State ignores the hundreds of other apps teens use.’ MLex; Bloomberg Law.
Bluff or brinkmanship? May 4 looms. New Mexicans watch. Tech’s social empire clashes with a small state’s resolve. Outcomes here could redraw lines for platforms everywhere—balancing safety against code’s hard limits. Or force a digital blackout in one U.S. corner.
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