New Mexico’s attorney general reportedly pushes new social media safety laws a day before 29 AGs testify against Meta in federal trial

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez is reportedly working with state lawmakers to draft two new bills strengthening consumer protections and child safety online, the day before 29 state attorneys general are set to face off against Meta in a separate federal trial in Oakland, California.

The legislation, which is expected to be announced in the coming weeks, would extend beyond social media to cover artificial intelligence and chatbots.

“I think there’s a lot of momentum coming out of our victory in court, and the idea is to build on that momentum,” Torrez told the Guardian.

The timing lines up two fronts in the fight over Meta and child safety: Torrez’s push at the state legislative level, building on New Mexico’s own $942 million verdict against the company, and Tuesday’s opening statements in the federal case brought by California, Colorado, Kentucky and New Jersey as part of the broader 29-state coalition that sued Meta in 2023.

One of Torrez’s bills would remove the cap on penalties for violating New Mexico’s consumer protection laws. “What we are going to do is continue to lobby Congress for that, b...