Democrats’ lawfare has targeted online privacy for years — Meta’s big court defeat is the win they crave

What would you do if Meta’s apps were suddenly blacked out on your phone? You can’t access Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. Threads will never overtake X as the new global town square. The one person down the street who owns a Meta Quest can’t enjoy VR any more. It’s all gone. This is the problem facing the people of New Mexico, and it’s all thanks to a child protection case that would require Meta to collect user IDs, weaken end-to-end encryption, and change its feed algorithms, or else exit the state entirely.

The landmark case against Meta

In 2023, the New Mexico Department of Justice, led by Democrat Attorney General Raúl Torrez — a former senior adviser to President Obama’s DOJ — opened an investigation into Meta over claims that its platforms failed to “protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation, and other harms.” The plaintiff collected documents and testimony from former Meta employees who corroborated these accusations, confirming that children were virtually put in danger when using Meta’s social media apps.

If the state can’t get it, the federal government will try instead.

In March 2026, Meta was found guilty by a jury in a New Mexico court for “misleading consumers about the safety of its platforms and endangering children,” resulting in the violation of the state’s consumer protection laws as outlined under the Unfair Practices Act. As part of the penalty, Meta was ordered to pay a maximum fine of $5,000 per violation, leading to a grand total of $375 million. By May 2026, the New Mexico courts handed down additional remedies, including a $3.7 billion fine and strict demands outlined in Torrez’s official statement. These include:

• age verification requirements for users to access Meta’s apps;
• child-friendly content feed algorithms;
• a reduction on end-to-end encryption to better track adult predators;
• warning labels that alert users of the dangers Meta apps pose to children;
• permanent bans for adult users who target children;
• appointment of an independent watchdog to monitor Meta’s compliance.

Meta fought back, saying that the remedies were “so broad and burdensome, that if implemented it might force Meta to withdraw its apps entirely.” The company has vowed to appeal the verdict.

If the ruling sticks

Meta now finds itself in a precarious position, and so does the New Mexico government.

RELATED: Democrat bill would force you to give Big Tech your ID just to use your phone — or the internet

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If Meta complies with the restrictive guidelines requested by the attorney general, one of these will happen:

• Meta can build a custom version of its apps to assuage the New Mexico courts, an option that is expensive and very unlikely. With this option, all users in New Mexico will be forced to show an ID to access these apps, and their security and privacy will be compromised due to weakened end-to-end encryption that lets the government spy on user activity under the guise of predator identification and child protection.
• Meta can integrate Torrez’s demands into its platform for all users — the more likely option, if the company chooses to remain in business in New Mexico. This will have a broad impact on users around the United States, as everyone will be required to show an ID to use Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp, and end-to-end encryption will become virtually meaningless on Meta’s platforms.

If Meta pulls out of New Mexico, users in this state will no longer have access to their favorite Meta apps, and the New Mexico DOJ will be the one to blame for its overreaching remedies. That said, users could still theoretically access these apps after a statewide exodus by using a VPN with the geolocation set to a neighboring state.

The money game

There’s another potential consequence of the case that Torrez may have missed. Meta has reportedly invested $2.5 billion in New Mexico since 2016, creating more than 1,000 new jobs, funding public schools, and handing out grants and scholarships while it builds new data centers to power the future of AI. If Meta is no longer allowed to support its apps in New Mexico, the company may also decide to move its other projects to a state that isn’t trying to wield authoritarian control over its business.

Unfortunately for Meta, even if it manages to outmaneuver New Mexico’s child protection ruling, it has a much harder road ahead, as multiple bills from both sides of the aisle — including Democrats’ Parents Decide Act and Republicans’ GUARD Act — aim to make age verification a standard part of access to devices, AI chatbots, and the internet. If the state can’t get it, the federal government will try instead.