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SANTA FE 鈥� Though the case before him centered on the safety of young New Mexicans in the digital realm, Judge Bryan Biedscheid presided over the second phase of New Mexico鈥檚 landmark lawsuit against Meta this month from behind a wall of paperwork.

A 12-person jury returned a verdict awarding $375 million to the state in March, but reams of binder-bound evidence on Biedscheid鈥檚 bench this month underscored a key difference this time around 鈥� he alone will decide the outcome of a case that could influence Meta鈥檚 policies regarding young social media users in the state and potentially beyond its borders.

After proceedings concluded Friday afternoon, Biedscheid repeated concerns he voiced at the outset regarding the weight of that decision falling to a state district court judge.

鈥淚 do remain cognizant that I am not a legislative executive and judicial branch rolled into one that is going to put necessarily some overarching governmental new mechanism in place,鈥� Biedscheid said, 鈥渁nd I know there's differences of opinion as to whether that's being requested or not. I just want to put that out there.鈥�

New Mexico Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez is asking the judge to rule on an unprecedented set of changes to Meta鈥檚 safety procedures for users under 18 in the state, with the intention to make popular apps like Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp safer for young users.

Torrez is also asking the judge to compel Meta to pay $3.7 billion to fund a sweeping abatement plan that would implement law enforcement, mental health and education programs.

The state鈥檚 request includes the creation of an 鈥渋ndependent monitor鈥� who would hold Meta responsible for adhering to the proposed changes. Torrez predicated that ask for oversight on the premise that the social media giant has proven an unreliable self-regulator, despite a set of new safeguards Meta has implemented for youth in recent years.

Those changes have been motivated, in part, by scores of other lawsuits pending against the world鈥檚 largest social media company.

Cases allege that Meta鈥檚 social media platforms are addictive and create myriad mental health harms for young users, especially young girls. The company reached an undisclosed settlement with a school district in Kentucky this month, and a Los Angeles jury in March found both Meta and YouTube liable for addictive features that caused depression for a young user.

Meta鈥檚 team of attorneys called a total of 10 witnesses after the state rested on May 13.

Professors, psychologists and several of the company鈥檚 top brass testified in opposition to the state鈥檚 case, which argues that the harms Meta鈥檚 platforms have allegedly caused to youth in New Mexico constitute a 鈥減ublic nuisance.鈥�

The final day of proceedings on Friday focused on two witnesses from Meta鈥檚 leadership team: Monika Bickert, vice president of content policy, and Robert Sherman, vice president of policy and deputy chief privacy officer.

Both critiqued the state鈥檚 request for relief from the court, with Bickert arguing that a Surgeon General-style 鈥渨arning label鈥� for Meta鈥檚 social media platforms would be ineffective, partly because such a ruling could impact 鈥渘ationwide litigation.鈥�

Bickert did, however, agree with some of the state鈥檚 conclusions regarding safety needs at Meta. She agreed that increasing the accuracy of its system to detect pornographic images sent over Messenger, for example, should be a priority.

鈥淔or the recommendations here, many of them, (the state) reached conclusions that we also reached after talking to experts,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd so I was not surprised to see many of these on here.鈥�

A key point of contention in the case has been the accuracy of Meta鈥檚 social media age-verification system, which doesn鈥檛 always prevent users under the age of 13 from registering for sites like Facebook and Instagram.

Meta currently uses a mix of artificial intelligence tools to help verify that government IDs, for example, accurately reflect the age provided by a user.

Sherman acknowledged the system can be improved, though he disagreed with the attorney general's request to permit 鈥渜ualified researchers鈥� in New Mexico to 鈥渜uery and scrape account data to assess child exploitation on Meta products under protocols approved by the Monitor,鈥� as read in a court exhibit on Friday.

鈥淪o, what's anticipated here, at least as I read it,鈥� Sherman said, 鈥渋s giving a pretty broad range of researchers access to account data, recommendation data ... essentially people's private information.鈥�

During cross-examination, state prosecutor Mike Pendell pointed to Meta鈥檚 already tumultuous record on data protection 鈥� including the Cambridge Analytica scandal in the 2010s.

He asked Sherman which should be a greater priority: Privacy or safety?

鈥淏ut if you have to choose, if there's a situation where you have to choose what takes precedence: Teen user safety or teen user privacy?鈥� Pendell posed.

Meta鈥檚 team objected to the line of questioning, calling it 鈥渁rgumentative.鈥� But after a tense back and forth, Sherman made a choice.

鈥淚 have two daughters at home,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 care a huge amount about that, and I would prioritize that. I also think it's possible to resolve some of these (concerns), and candidly, it's something I've tried to do in my job in a way that doesn't unduly compromise privacy, but I absolutely prioritize safety.鈥�

After Sherman left the stand on Friday, Biedscheid thanked the attorneys for their work and made an attempt at humor in a case dealing with technologies that continue to grow in popularity among young users.

鈥淲hile I agree that this trial 鈥� phase one and phase two 鈥� has been TL (too long),鈥� he quipped. 鈥淚 have DR, in terms of 鈥榙one the reading,鈥� and DL, in terms of 鈥榙one the listening.鈥欌��

The Attorney General鈥檚 Office and Meta have until June 12 to submit written findings of fact and conclusions of law.

Biedscheid called for both sides to take a 鈥減roblem-solving approach.鈥�

鈥淚 want you all to think about how it can be,鈥� he said, 鈥渙r you risk Division 6 of the 1st Judicial District Court in Santa Fe trying to come up with the things that you might find to be very unhelpful and distasteful and really burdensome.鈥�

John Miller is the sa国际传媒官网网页入口鈥檚 northern New Mexico correspondent. He can be reached at jmiller@abqjournal.com.