sa国际传媒官网网页入口

SANTA FE 鈥� An attorney for New Mexico asked a judge Monday to order Meta to finance a $3.7 billion plan intended to repair harms the state alleges are caused by the company's social media platforms.

David Ackerman, an attorney for the state, said the plan, which would be implemented over 15 years under the supervision of a court-appointed safety monitor, is needed to address mental health harms allegedly caused by Meta's platforms, including Facebook and Instagram.

"Across New Mexico, across the country, children are begging for help," Ackerman said in opening statements. "You will hear testimony that confirms there is a mental health crisis and that it is fueled and caused by social media, and we need to fix it. The court has broad and flexible powers to do so."

Meta's attorney responded that New Mexico's plan is "over broad, vague, unworkable" and would make it likely that Meta would cease to offer its platforms in New Mexico.

"The state is asking you to develop, from scratch, a completely new regulatory regime that far exceeds anything in Europe and Australia 鈥� anywhere," Alex Parkinson, Meta's attorney, told the judge. No court has ever ordered anything close to a $3.7 billion abatement plan, he said.

"The injunctive relief the state seeks, if granted in full, would genuinely make it untenable to continue offering (Meta's) products in the state," Parkinson said. "This is not a PR stunt. It is not a threat."

The statements came on the first day of what is expected to be a three-week bench trial, without a jury, in 1st Judicial District Court before Chief Judge Bryan Biedscheid, to determine if Meta created a public nuisance and whether it must fund programs to mitigate alleged harms to New Mexico children.

A jury in March found that Meta 鈥� the parent company of Facebook and Instagram 鈥� failed to protect New Mexico children and ordered the company to pay $375 million in civil penalties for violations of the state's Unfair Practices Act.

The jury reached the verdict in less than a day following a seven-week trial, which Biedscheid also presided over.

State Attorney General Ra煤l Torrez filed the suit against Meta Platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg in 2023, alleging the company failed to protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation and human trafficking.

The suit alleged both violation of the Unfair Practices Act and creating a public nuisance. In the phase-two trial that began Monday, Biedscheid will decide the public nuisance portion of the state's suit.

Meta contends that no court has found a social media company in violation of public nuisance laws, which Parkinson described as something that deprives the public of a "common right" such as air and quality water.

鈥淔or good reason, no court has ever held a media company in violation of a public nuisance,鈥� Parkinson told the judge. "Why? Because there's no interference with a public right, a shared, common resource." The injury alleged in this case is "individual harm" to New Mexico teenagers best handled through personal injury laws, he said.

"There is no public right at issue here," he said. "These are personal injury claims."

In addition to the $3.7 billion abatement plan, New Mexico is asking the judge to order changes to Facebook and Instagram, such as age verification techniques, with 99% accuracy, that prevent children under 13 from using the apps.

"The 99% effectiveness is required because Meta has confirmed that its platforms are not safe, are not appropriate, for anyone under the age of 13," Ackerman said.

New Mexico also seeks to ban infinite scroll and other features which the state argues are designed to keep teenagers engaged with the apps, and techniques that scrub 99% of child sexual abuse material from its apps.

Torrez held a press conference Monday outside the Santa Fe courthouse where he refuted Meta鈥檚 argument that technical changes could require the company to end service to New Mexico.

"None of the things that we are asking for are either technically infeasible or impractical,鈥� Torrez said. 鈥淭hey're simply expensive decisions for them to try and undertake."

He also said Meta has the resources and expertise to make changes New Mexico seeks.

鈥淭his is a company that spends tens of billions of dollars every quarter trying to build out in its arms race for artificial intelligence, and it wants this court and the state to believe it doesn't have the resources, the technical capability, to build a safer platform,鈥� Torrez said. 鈥淣obody buys that."

Testimony offered in the phase-one trial showed that the top 1% of teenage users in New Mexico spent 290 hours a month on Meta platforms, Ackerman said.

Parkinson responded that the state's proposed abatement plan is "wildly inflated鈥� and calls for statewide healthcare for any mental health disorder, whether it is related to social media or not.

"It's not something for your honor to order and then have to oversee for 15 years," he said. "It's not practical."