Meta Threatens to Pull Facebook, Instagram in NM

Meta is dangling a stark threat over New Mexico: Change the rules, or lose Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp altogether. In a court filing this week, the company said proposed child-safety remedies in a major lawsuit are so burdensome that they could force Meta to shutter its platforms in the state rather than comply, reports the Guardian. A jury in March hit Meta with $375 million in civil penalties after concluding the company was deceptive toward users about safety on the platform and permitted such harmful behavior as child sexual exploitation. A second phase beginning on Monday will decide what reforms Meta must implement.

New Mexico's attorney general, Raul Torrez, dismissed the shutdown warning as a "PR stunt," arguing that Meta has repeatedly retooled products when business demanded it. "This is not about technological capability," he said in a statement. "Meta simply refuses to place the safety of children ahead of engagement, advertising revenue, and profit." The state wants stricter age verification (including making sure no grown-ups are posing as kids), stronger safeguards and recommendation systems, lifetime bans on adults who exploit children, warning labels about possible dangers on Meta's platforms, and limits on encryption for minors, among other asks.

This would all come with oversight by a court-appointed safety monitor, if the state has its way. Meta, for its part, says many of those steps are technically unrealistic (it calls some of them "hopelessly vague," per the Verge); would require New Mexico-only versions of its apps; and would infringe on free expression and parental rights. The company also rejects the state's claim that its platforms are a "public nuisance," as using said platforms is voluntary.

Torrez notes that Meta should see the writing on the wall—namely, that dozens of other states have filed similar complaints against it regarding young people's mental health, and that New Mexico is simply the first one to go to trial, per the AP. "I highly doubt that they're going to be willing and able to turn the lights off for their product all over the country," he said in an online presser.