Meta is heading back to court Monday in a case that could force sweeping changes to how Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp operate. After losing a landmark $375 million child safety verdict earlier this year, the company now faces a three-week trial in Santa Fe where New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez will push for court-ordered platform modifications that could reshape social media industry practices nationwide. The stakes extend far beyond the financial penalty, with proposed mandates including age verification systems, encryption restrictions for minors, and usage caps that could set precedent across the sector.

Meta is bracing for what could become its most consequential courtroom showdown yet. Starting Monday, the social media giant returns to a Santa Fe courthouse not to defend itself, but to fight the remedies New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez wants a judge to impose after his historic $375 million victory earlier this year.

The three-week trial represents a critical escalation in state-level efforts to regulate social media platforms. While the initial verdict grabbed headlines for its record-breaking financial penalty, this remedies phase could fundamentally alter how Meta operates its trio of platforms – Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp.

According to statements from the New Mexico Department of Justice, Torrez is pushing for sweeping operational mandates. The proposed changes include mandatory age verification for all New Mexico users, a prohibition on end-to-end encryption for anyone under 18, and usage caps limiting minors to 90 minutes of daily platform time.

The case stems from allegations that Meta knowingly allowed its platforms to become hunting grounds for predators and failed to protect children from harmful content. The initial verdict marked the first time a state attorney general successfully held a major social media company liable under public nuisance laws, a legal theory traditionally applied to environmental contamination and neighborhood disturbances.

What makes this remedies trial particularly significant is its potential ripple effect. If the court grants even a portion of Torrez’s requests, it could establish a template for other states pursuing similar cases against Meta and its competitors. Already, attorneys general from multiple states are watching closely, having filed their own child safety lawsuits against social media companies.

Meta has signaled it will fight the proposed remedies aggressively. The company previously attempted to avoid the remedies trial altogether, but the court rejected that effort. In public statements, Meta has argued that many of the requested changes would be technically complex to implement, potentially ineffective, and could conflict with user privacy protections – particularly the encryption restrictions.

The encryption demand puts Meta in a particularly tight spot. The company has spent years rolling out end-to-end encryption across its messaging services, framing it as essential for user privacy and security. Being forced to create backdoors or exceptions for minors could undermine the entire security model and expose the company to criticism from privacy advocates and security researchers.

Age verification presents its own set of challenges. While the technology exists, implementing it without collecting extensive personal data raises privacy concerns. Meta would need to verify the age of millions of users, potentially requiring government IDs or biometric data – information the company has historically avoided collecting at scale.

The 90-minute usage cap might seem straightforward, but enforcing it across multiple devices and accounts introduces technical hurdles. Determined users could simply create new accounts or access platforms through different channels, making any cap difficult to enforce without invasive monitoring.

Beyond the technical questions, the trial will test fundamental assumptions about platform liability and state regulatory power. Meta is expected to argue that federal law, particularly Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, shields it from exactly this type of state-imposed operational mandate. The company may also contend that New Mexico lacks jurisdiction to impose changes that would necessarily affect users nationwide.

Torrez has already demonstrated he’s prepared for a prolonged legal battle. His office spent months preparing the initial case, gathering internal Meta documents and testimony that convinced a jury the company had created a public nuisance. Those same documents will likely resurface during the remedies arguments to justify the scope of changes being requested.

The timing couldn’t be more sensitive for Meta. The company is already navigating increased scrutiny from federal regulators, ongoing antitrust litigation, and growing bipartisan support in Congress for stronger online child protection laws. A court order mandating operational changes in New Mexico could embolden lawmakers to pursue similar requirements at the federal level.

Industry observers note that whatever happens in Santa Fe won’t stay in Santa Fe. Social media platforms operate nationally, making it nearly impossible to implement state-specific features without affecting the broader user base. If Meta loses and appeals, the case could take years to resolve, leaving the company in regulatory limbo.

The three-week trial format suggests both sides are preparing extensive expert testimony about technical feasibility, child safety research, and platform design. Expect Meta to bring engineers and product managers to explain implementation challenges, while New Mexico counters with child safety advocates and former employees willing to testify about internal decision-making.

This isn’t just another legal setback for Meta – it’s a potential inflection point for the entire social media industry. If New Mexico succeeds in forcing operational changes through the courts, it opens a new front in the battle over platform regulation that bypasses the gridlocked federal legislative process. The remedies trial will test whether states can use public nuisance laws to impose the kind of mandatory design changes that Congress has so far failed to enact. For Meta, the next three weeks in Santa Fe could determine not just how it operates in New Mexico, but how much control it retains over its platforms nationwide. Other tech giants are surely watching, knowing they could be next.