New Mexico seeking changes to Meta’s platform after jury verdict

New Mexico continues to seek change Meta Attorney General Raúl Torrez told CNBC on Wednesday, following a jury’s decision to hold the company accountable for failing to protect children on its platforms.

“We’re going to seek injunctive relief,” Torrez said on CNBC’s “Squawk Box” about the next phase of the lawsuit, which deals with the state’s alleged public nuisance.

“This means changes to the design features of the platform, actual age verification, changes to the algorithm, an independent monitor to oversee those changes, and basically a demand that they do business differently in New Mexico,” he said.

A jury decided Tuesday that Meta must pay $375 million to the state for failing to comply with New Mexico laws designed to protect children from online abuse.

The decision could set a precedent for how the industry is regulated in the US The safety of social media, especially of minors, has raised legal questions in high-profile cases that have been compared to the ‘Big Tobacco’ cases of the 1990s.

The jury in a different personal injury case involving Meta and Google’s YouTube has been deliberating in Los Angeles Superior Court since March 12.

Following the New Mexico jury’s verdict, a Meta spokesman said, “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal.”

“We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of detecting and removing bad actors or harmful content,” the spokesperson said. “We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously and are confident in our record of protecting young people online.”

The second phase of the trial, which will not include a jury, will begin on May 4.

“We will seek more financial assistance from the state of New Mexico to remedy this situation, support our children, and create a safe digital environment,” Torrez said.

Torrez said Wednesday that the state’s lawsuit focuses on Meta’s products and how the company “creates an environment that is both dangerous and addictive for children.”

“We were also able to show that the company’s own security team had been recommending these features for years and had been highlighting the dangers of these features for years,” he said. “These have been ignored over and over again by Mr. Zuckerberg and other executives. I think that’s basically what made the difference in this case.”

Torrez said the decision is a message to the entire tech industry and called on Congress to take action to regulate the space.