The attorney general of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, alleging that the social media platforms expose kids to sexual content and act as a “marketplace for paedophiles in search of children.”
The lawsuit, which was filed on Tuesday, claims that minors who use both platforms and are able to sign up without having their age verified are shown advertisements that lead to adult pornographic websites and accounts that post “images of sexual intercourse and sexualized images of minors,” even though the minor has not indicated any interest in this kind of content.
Attorney General Raul Torrez released a statement saying, “The office’s investigators found that certain child exploitative content is over 10 times more prevalent on Facebook and Instagram than it is on Pornhub and OnlyFans.”
To test Meta’s enforcement policies, investigators from Torrez’s agency produced many false profiles. Under the guise of a 13-year-old girl and her mother, who they suggested was “interested in trafficking her daughter,” the team created two accounts. The mother’s account was inundated with “inappropriate expressions of love or interest” in her daughter, none of which were reported by Facebook, and both accounts quickly reached Facebook’s 5,000 friend limit.
Investigators gave the daughter’s name, “Issa,” to the chat group where she was added. After multiple reports to Facebook’s moderators, the group remained active with members sharing “pornographic videos and naked photos of underage girls.”
“Issa receives pictures and videos of genitalia, including exposed penises, in her messages and chats at least three to four times a week,” the lawsuit stated, adding that despite being reported, none of the males who sent these communications had been banned from Facebook.
An anonymous account then shared the daughter’s profile along with another made-up teen girl, promoting minors who were “selling” sex. Meanwhile, accounts promoting accounts purportedly owned by a 13-year-old girl were following another Instagram account, which contained content suggesting that the account was used to sell child pornography.
The lawsuit claimed that certain photos had to be removed because they were “too graphic and disturbing,” yet it also offered some redacted images of the content that the investigators had viewed.
The lawsuit alleges that Meta violated New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and demands $5,000 from the company for each instance. It also claims that Meta violated public nuisance laws by endangering the health and safety of “thousands” of youngsters in New Mexico.
In reaction to the lawsuit, Meta declared, “Child exploitation is a horrific crime and online predators are determined criminals.” “In order to help identify and apprehend predators, we employ child safety specialists, report content to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other businesses and law enforcement.”
Less than a week after Meta declared it was bolstering its kid protection measures in response to multiple Wall Street Journal headlines alleging Meta was not doing enough to stop paedophile networks on Facebook and Instagram, the complaint was filed.
