A judge in Santa Fe is currently deciding whether to order Meta to fundamentally redesign Instagram and Facebook for children. Not fine them. Not issue a warning. Redesign the products themselves — ban infinite scroll, require age verification that actually works, remove the features that keep children glued to their screens. The trial began 4 May 2026, and it could be the most consequential child safety ruling of the decade.
How we got here
In March 2026, a New Mexico jury found that Meta knowingly harmed children’s mental health and concealed what it knew about child sexual exploitation on its platforms. The jury ordered Meta to pay $375 million in civil penalties — reached in less than a day of deliberations after a seven-week trial.
That was phase one. Phase two, which opened this week, is a bench trial — decided by a judge, not a jury. New Mexico prosecutors are now asking Judge Bryan Biedscheid to rule that Meta’s platforms constitute a public nuisance and to order the company to fund and implement a sweeping plan to fix the damage.
What New Mexico is asking the judge to order
The remedies prosecutors are seeking are specific and far-reaching. They want Meta to:
- Implement age verification with 99% accuracy to prevent under-13s from accessing Facebook and Instagram
- Ban infinite scroll — the feature that continuously loads new content so there is never a natural stopping point
- Remove push notifications for children
- Change default settings that display “likes” and share counts, which prosecutors argue drive compulsive comparison and use
- Remove 99% of child sexual abuse material from its platforms
- Require a parent or guardian linked to every child’s account
- Fund a $3.7 billion, 15-year abatement plan to address the mental health crisis in New Mexico, supervised by a court-appointed safety monitor
Meta’s response in court has been equally blunt: these demands are “overbroad, vague, unworkable,” and if the judge grants them in full, Meta may cease to offer its platforms in New Mexico altogether. The New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez fired back that none of the requested changes are technically impossible — and that Meta’s threat to pull out of the state is not a reason to let children continue to be harmed.
Why this matters beyond New Mexico
This trial is being watched closely by lawyers representing hundreds of school districts in a separate federal case — set to begin 15 June 2026 — because both cases rest on the same legal theory: that Meta’s platforms are a defective product that constitutes a public nuisance. If the New Mexico judge orders algorithmic changes and design restrictions, it will be the first time a court has ever compelled a social media company to alter the features that drive engagement.
The features on trial in Santa Fe — infinite scroll, push notifications, algorithmically amplified likes — are the same ones that regulators in the UK, Australia, and across Europe are trying to restrict through legislation. Courts and governments are converging on the same diagnosis from different directions.
Meta has vowed to appeal the March jury verdict and has said it “works hard to keep people safe.” The company argues that many of the prosecutor’s demands duplicate things it has already done or is in the process of doing.
What this means for your family right now
The trial will run for approximately three weeks. Nothing changes for your child’s Instagram or Facebook account today — but this case is worth following, because the outcome will shape what these platforms are legally required to look like for children.
In the meantime, the features being argued about in court are ones you can already address in settings:
- Instagram Teen Accounts: If your child is under 16, check that their account is registered as a Teen Account — this applies some automatic restrictions including limits on who can contact them and content filters. Go to Settings → Account → Account type.
- Screen time limits: Neither Instagram nor Facebook has a built-in infinite scroll off-switch yet, but both iOS Screen Time and Android Digital Wellbeing allow you to set daily time limits per app.
- Notifications: Turn off all push notifications for Instagram and Facebook on your child’s phone. Settings → Notifications → Instagram → Allow Notifications → off. This is one of the most effective single changes you can make.
- Age verification: Check that your child’s account reflects their real date of birth. The protections platforms say they offer for younger teens are only triggered if the platform knows the account belongs to a younger teen.
The court will decide what Meta must do. You don’t have to wait for the verdict to do some of it yourself.
I’ll be covering this trial as it progresses. The school districts federal trial begins 15 June — that one involves over a thousand school districts across the US, and the findings could eventually affect how platforms operate globally.
Sources: Albuquerque Journal — New Mexico seeks $3.7 billion from Meta, 4 May 2026
CNBC — Jury reaches verdict in Meta child safety trial, 24 March 2026
New Mexico Department of Justice — Landmark verdict against Meta
