Nevada wants a restraining order against Meta. A judge will consider it

A hearing has been set next month for a ruling on the state of Nevada’s request for an injunction against three Meta-owned social media platforms.

On Jan. 30, Attorney General Aaron Ford filed lawsuits against TikTok, Snapchat and Meta platforms Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.

Monday’s hearing had been scheduled regarding the state’s motion for a temporary restraining order against Meta Platforms Inc. The motion asked the court to restrain Meta from using end-to-end encryption on its Messenger app when used by people under 18, according to court documents.

“Messenger’s end-to-end encryption feature (“E2EE”) makes Messenger a preferred method for individuals engaging or attempting to engage in criminal activity targeting Nevada children due to that feature shielding the contents of its users’ messages from Defendant Meta, the State’s law enforcement professionals, and anyone else,” attorneys for the state wrote in its motion.

Attorneys for the state and the social media companies appeared in District Court on Monday, when Judge Joanna Kishner addressed procedural questions and scheduling.

The state’s attorneys agreed that the temporary restraining order motion would not be heard Monday on the understanding that a preliminary injunction hearing on the same issue would be heard in a timely manner.

In a motion opposing the state’s request for a restraining order, Meta’s attorneys said the state could not claim emergency relief because end-to-end encryption has been in use for years and was applied to all messages on the app two months ago, according to court documents.

A hearing was set for March 20.