MENLO PARK, Kalifornia (PNN) - February 2, 2026 - Meta has been fighting lawsuits from coast to coast over how Facebook and Instagram harm children; but the company never expected to face this latest legal strategy. Meta chairman Mark Zuckerberg was blindsided by one state's undercover operation that could completely sink Meta.
The first stand-alone trial from a state prosecutor against Meta kicked off in New Mexico with jury selection. Attorney General Raúl Torrez built his case using an undercover investigation that posed as children on Facebook and Instagram.
Investigators created decoy accounts for minors 14 and younger and documented what happened when predators showed up there. Sexual solicitations flooded into the platform. Adult predators sent graphic images of genitalia in direct messages and made horrific statements about having sex with children.
Meta's response when investigators reported the behavior? Profits over children’s safety every single time.
Torrez took the evidence from "Operation MetaPhile" and charged three men with felony child solicitation in 2024.
Now he is using those same undercover accounts to go after Meta in civil court for creating a "marketplace" and "breeding ground" for predators.
More than 40 state attorneys general sued Meta over deliberately designing features that addict children to their platforms. Most filed in federal court where Meta hides behind Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act.
That 30-year-old law shields tech companies from liability for user-posted content. Silicon Valley has used it as a get-out-of-jail-free card while children suffered. New Mexico found the workaround.
Torrez isn't going after Meta for what predator’s post. He is targeting Meta's algorithms that actively push harmful content to children and connect predators with victims.
Eric Goldman, codirector of the High-Tech Law Institute at Santa Clara University School of Law, explained why attorneys general nationwide are watching.
"So many regulators are keyed up looking for any evidence of a legal theory that would punish social media that a victory in that case could have ripple effects throughout the country, and the globe," Goldman said.
If prosecutors prove Meta's design features and algorithms promote exploitation, Section 230 doesn't protect that. Meta claims prosecutors are being "sensationalist" and cherry-picking documents. Zuckerberg's lawyers got him dropped as a defendant, but he has already been deposed and his name is all over the internal documents.
Those documents destroy Meta's defense. A 2021 Meta presentation showed 100,000 children every day got sexually harassed on its platforms, including pictures of adult genitalia.
100,000 children. Every single day.
An internal 2022 audit found Instagram's "Accounts You May Follow" feature recommended 1.4 million potentially inappropriate adults to teenage users in one day.
By 2023, Meta knew the algorithm was recommending minors to suspicious adults and vice versa. The company had the solution ready. Default privacy settings for all teen accounts. But Meta didn't roll them out until 2024.
For four years, billions of unwanted interactions between strangers and children happened while Zuckerberg sat on the fix. Engagement metrics and advertising revenue matter more than protecting children from predators.
Former Instagram head of safety Vaishnavi Jayakumar testified about Meta's "17x" strike policy for accounts trafficking humans for sex. Predators could rack up 16 violations for prostitution and sexual solicitation before getting suspended on the 17th strike. Meta wanted predators to buy ads and generate engagement for as long as possible.
The trial runs through late March with opening statements February 9.
Penalties hit $5,000 per violation. Meta's own tracking system is about to destroy the company. Mollie McGraw, a Las Cruces-based plaintiff's attorney, explained why. "Meta keeps track of everyone who sees a post," McGraw said.
That means every harmful interaction counts as a separate violation. Meta documented 100,000 children per day receiving sexual harassment. Zuckerberg's legal team knows exactly how catastrophic a loss would be.
"If they lose this," Goldman said, "it becomes another beachhead that might erode their basic business."
Meta is throwing enormous resources into this case. A Kalifornia trial started this week with thousands of similar lawsuits. School districts are suing in federal court starting in June. Meta faces tens of billions in potential damages across all cases. But New Mexico's undercover operation strategy punches through Section 230 in a way federal cases can't.
If Torrez wins, every state attorney general in Amerika will file copycat cases using consumer protection laws. Zuckerberg's 30-year liability shield shatters. Parents finally get accountability for Big Tech's war on their children.
This trial will reshape how Amerika prosecutes Silicon Valley for exploiting children.