Jury begins deliberations in landmark New Mexico trial over children's safety risks on Meta

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — A jury began deliberations Monday in a landmark trial in New Mexico where social media conglomerate Meta is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children.

Meta's attorneys dispute the claims and say the company provides built-in protections for teenagers and weeds out harmful content but that some potentially harmful gets past its safety nets for some users.

Jurors heard closing arguments after six weeks of testimony from scores of witnesses that included local teachers, psychiatric experts, state investigators, top Meta officials and whistleblowers who left the company.

The case in New Mexico state court is among the first to reach trial in a wave of litigation involving social media platforms and their impacts on children.

New Mexico prosecutors have accused Meta — which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp — of prioritizing profits over safety in violation of state consumer protection laws. They have raised concerns about the safety of complex algorithms, and a variety of messaging features and settings.

“It’s clear that young people are spending too much time on Meta's products, they’ve lost control,” prosecution attorney Linda Singer told the jury in closing statements. “Meta knew that and it didn’t disclose it.”

Singer said testimony and evidence at trial showed Meta’s algorithms had been recommending sensational and harmful content to teenagers, while alleging that the company failed to truly enforce its minimum user age of 13.

“The safety issues that you’ve heard about in this case, weren’t mistakes. .... They were a product of a corporate philosophy that chose growth and engagement over children’s safety,” Singer said. “And young people in this state and around the country have borne the cost.”

Meta attorney Kevin Huff on Monday highlighted witness testimony about Meta's investments in the safety on its platforms, describing automated features and roles dedicated to safety.

“Meta has built innovative, automated tools to protect people,” he said. “Meta has 40,000 people working to make its apps as safe as possible."

But he added that Meta's systems aren't perfect: "No one can, with billions of pieces of content every day, even the best system, cannot catch all of it.”

He said the company’s enforcement of minimum age limits are hamstrung by U.S. government restrictions on collecting young children’s data.

Huff told the jury that the company “disclosed to the world that its safeguards are not perfect, and that some bad content and bad actors get onto its service.”

“Common sense also says that parents and teens know that there is bad content on the internet, and on Facebook and Instagram specifically,” he added. But Huff noted the social media company has disclosed risks of its platforms in its user agreements, website, ads and on television.

“Wherever it could get its message out, Meta was disclosing risk to the public,” Huff said.

Singer urged jurors to impose a civil penalty that could exceed $2 billion against Meta, based on the maximum $5,000 penalty per violation on two counts of consumer protection violations, and an estimated 208,700 monthly users of Meta platforms under the age of 18 in New Mexico. The violations include “unconscionable” trade practices.

“Over the course of a decade Meta has failed over and over again to act honestly and transparently, failed to act to protect young people in this state,” Singer said. “It is up to you to finish this job."

Huff called the state’s request for penalties “a shocking number” and said prosecutors failed to provide any examples of teenagers who chose to use Instagram because of a false understanding of its risks.

“Even though teens are aware of the risks, they continue to use Instagram because they enjoy Instagram,” Huff said.

A second phase of the trial will follow with a judge deciding whether Meta created a public nuisance and should be on the hook financially to fund programs to address alleged harms to children.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed suit in 2023, accusing Meta of creating a marketplace and “breeding ground” for predators who target children for sexual exploitation and failing to disclose what it knew about those harmful effects. State investigators created social media accounts posing as children to document online sexual solicitations and the response from Meta.

Meta attorneys accuse prosecutors of cherry-picking evidence and conducting a shoddy investigation.

Meta executives emphasized at trial that the company continuously improves safety and addresses compulsive social media use without infringing on free speech or censoring users.

But the prosecution on Monday said that public assurances about safety disclosures from Meta executives including founder Mark Zuckerberg and Instagram head Adam Mosseri often didn't square with internal studies and communications at the company.

“It was included in Meta’s internal research -- again this was research that didn’t get disclosed by Meta -- one-in-three teens experienced problematic use,” Singer said. "They knew these kids were struggling with problematic use — again, addiction.”

The jury is assembled from residents of Santa Fe County, including the politically progressive state capital city.

Tech companies have been protected from liability for material posted on their social media platforms under Section 230, a 30-year-old provision of the U.S. Communications Decency Act, as well as a First Amendment shield.

Prosecutors say New Mexico is not seeking to hold Meta accountable for content on its platforms, but rather its role in pushing out that content through complex algorithms that proliferate material that can be addictive and harmful to children.

In California, a jury already is sequestered in deliberations on whether Meta and YouTube should be liable for harms caused to children using their platforms. The bellwether case could impact how thousands of similar lawsuits against social media companies are likely to play out.

Linda Singer, an attorney representing the plaintiff, left, shakes hands with attorney Kevin Huff, representing Meta, after they made closing arguments, Monday, March 23, 2026, in state court, in Santa Fe, N.M., in a trial where the social media conglomerate is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

Linda Singer, an attorney representing the plaintiff, makes closing arguments, Monday, March 23, 2026, in state court, in Santa Fe, N.M., in a trial where the social media conglomerate is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

Meta attorney Kevin Huff makes closing arguments, Monday, March 23, 2026, in state court, in Santa Fe, N.M., in a trial where the social media conglomerate is accused of misleading its users about how safe its platforms are for children. (Eddie Moore/The Albuquerque Journal via AP, Pool)

A recording of Meta Founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg's deposition is played for the jurors on Wednesday, March 4, 2026, in Santa Fe, N.M. (Jim Weber/Santa Fe New Mexican via AP, Pool)

WASHINGTON (AP) — The Senate confirmed Markwayne Mullin as homeland security secretary late Monday, approving President Donald Trump's nominee to take over the embattled department after the firing of Kristi Noem during a public backlash over the administration's immigration enforcement and mass deportation operations.

Mullin, a Republican senator from Oklahoma known for his close friendship with Trump, has tried to present himself as a steady hand, saying his goal as secretary would be to get the department off the front page of the news. He takes over at a difficult time as Trump has ordered ICE agents to bolster airport security during a budget standoff in Congress. And he tangled with the Republican chairman of the Homeland Security Committee, who questioned Mullin's character and temperament during last week's combative confirmation hearing.

Senators confirmed him on a largely party-line vote, 54-45.

Routine funding for the Department of Homeland Security has lapsed since Feb. 14, leading to long waits at U.S. airports as Transportation Security Administration agents call out rather than work without pay. Democrats are demanding the Trump administration make changes in immigration enforcement operations following the deaths of two U.S. citizens during protests this year in Minneapolis. Trump has refused the latest proposal, and talks have stalled.

While the senator comes to the position after more than a dozen years in Congress, and with the management experience of running an expanding family plumbing business in Oklahoma, he has not been seen as a key force in immigration issues.

A former mixed martial arts fighter and collegiate wrestler who has led early-morning workout sessions in the members-only House gym, he became close with members of both parties and is often seen as a negotiator in partisan Washington.

It is his loyalty to Trump that landed him the job, and he’s not expected to sway from the president’s approach. Mullin was a strong supporter of Trump’s immigration agenda and ICE officers before being tapped for the DHS job.

“I can have different opinions with everybody in this room, but as secretary of homeland I’ll be protecting everybody,” Mullin said during his confirmation hearing.

Mullin’s first challenge will be to restore routine funding to the department that has been blocked since mid-February as Democrats demand tighter restraints. They want immigration officers to identify themselves and not wear masks; refrain from enforcement operations around schools, churches, hospitals and other sensitive locations; wear body cameras; and obtain a judge's approval on warrants before entering people's homes or private spaces.

At his confirmation hearing last week, Mullin sought to portray himself as a steady hand at a pivotal time for the agency — an image that was challenged by the committee chairman, Republican Sen. Rand Paul, in a heated exchange. Democrats are also skeptical, seeing him as a loyal executor of Trump’s agenda.

Paul voted against Mullin during the committee vote. Democratic Sens. John Fetterman of Pennsylvania and Martin Heinrich of New Mexico joined most other Republicans in advancing the nominee in a Sunday vote.

“Markwayne Mullin is ready to lead," said Sen. John Barrasso of Wyoming, the No. 2 ranking Republican. He said Mullin will “serve with seriousness and character. He will be a leader who makes our country safer.”

Mullin comes into office at a time when public support for the president’s immigration agenda has fallen after a year of high-profile operations in multiple American cities. Under Noem’s leadership, officers were accused of using force to arrest immigrants, detaining them in squalid conditions and bypassing due process to rapidly deport immigrants.

Mullin did walk back some of his comments during his confirmation hearing, saying he was wrong to malign protester Alex Pretti after he was shot and killed by an ICE officer. He said that as secretary he would refrain from making judgments before an investigation is carried out.

He shed light on other ways he might influence policy when it comes to immigration. For example, he said officers would be required to use a warrant signed by a judge — not the administrative warrants now used by ICE officers — to enter a house except in rare circumstances.

He acknowledged the concerns some communities have over building massive ICE detention facilities in their neighborhoods and said cutting off federal funds to so-called sanctuary jurisdictions that don’t work with ICE would be a last resort.

But ultimately, it is the White House that sets the agenda when it comes to how Trump’s vision for immigration enforcement is carried out, and Mullin is expected to follow its lead. Trump faces a strong lobby within the GOP pushing him to make good on his promise to deport 1 million people a year.

Mullin will also have his hands full charting a new course at the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which has come under scrutiny as it delivers disaster aid to parts of the country hard-hit by hurricanes and other natural disasters.

A growing number of critics, even fellow Republicans, said Noem’s policy of personally approving contracts over $100,000 slowed disaster response, and the department still doesn’t have a full-time administrator.

Mullin presented a fresh approach on federal emergency management during his Senate confirmation hearing, rejecting the idea of eliminating FEMA and saying he would revoke Noem’s contract approval rule.

__

Associated Press writer Lisa Mascaro contributed to this report.

FILE - This photo combination shows, from left, Sen. John Fetterman, D-Pa., in Washington, March 18, 2026, Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla.,. March 18, 2026 on Capitol Hill in Washington and Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., on Capitol Hill in Washington, Feb. 12, 2026, in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta, Tom Brenner, file)

Sen. Markwayne Mullin, R-Okla., President Donald Trump's pick for Homeland Security secretary, testifies during Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs hearing, Wednesday, March 18, 2026 on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)