From today’s The Guardian:
New Mexico’s attorney general is mounting a full-court press against technology companies to improve their child safety measures, capitalizing on a landmark win in court against Meta earlier this year.
Raúl Torrez is working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills he says will strengthen consumer protections and child safety online. The legislation, expected to be announced in the coming weeks, will build on the state’s case against the parent company of Facebook, WhatsApp and Instagram. A jury found in March that the company misled its users about the safety of its platforms and enabled harm, including child sexual exploitation. The social media giant was fined nearly $1bn as a result of the case.
The trial was the first to hold Meta liable for harmful acts committed on its platforms. It followed a 2023 Guardian investigation that exposed how Facebook and Instagram had become marketplaces for child sex trafficking.
Torrez is pursuing additional lawsuits, including a second case against Meta and one against an AI company whose chatbot has become a source of emotional attachment for children.
In an interview with the Guardian, the state’s top legal official said the proposed laws would go beyond social media, creating a broader consumer protection framework for emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence and chatbots. He has also had preliminary discussions about the legislation with Deb Haaland, the former US interior secretary and Democratic nominee for New Mexico governor, who expressed support for his efforts.
“I think there’s a lot of momentum coming out of our victory in court, and the idea is to build on that momentum,” said Torrez, who is running for re-election this year.
Read the complete story here.