This photo illustration created on Jan. 7, 2025, in Washington, D.C., shows an image of Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta, and an image of the Meta logo.
Meta is back in court, but this time it's a lone defendant.
Opening arguments begin on Monday in a high-profile trial brought by the state of New Mexico against Meta , which allegedly failed to safeguard apps like Facebook and Instagram from online predators who targeted child users, according to Raúl Torrez, the state's attorney general.
Originally filed in 2023, the suit claims that Meta "steered and connected users — including children — to sexually explicit, exploitative and child sex abuse materials and facilitated human trafficking" within the state.
"What we are really alleging is that Meta has created a dangerous product, a product that enables not only the targeting of children, but the exploitation of children in virtual spaces and in the real world," Torrez told CNBC's "Squawk Box" on Monday.
The trial is one of several significant cases involving Meta this year that could have major repercussions on the company and the broader social media industry. Experts have said the lawsuits resemble those brought against "Big Tobacco" in the 1990s, due to the alleged harm the products can have on users, and the efforts by tobacco companies to mislead the public about the negative effects.