Lawsuit by New Mexico targets Meta & Zuckerberg for child protection failures
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez sued Meta Platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging Facebook's failure to safeguard children from sexual abuse, online solicitation, and human trafficking. Legal action intensifies.
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Highlights
- Mexico sues Meta and Zuckerberg over child safety
- Meta's platforms are deemed unsafe for kids, enabling exploitation
- Growing lawsuits allege youth mental health risks and addictive social media design
New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has filed a lawsuit against Facebook's parent company, Meta Platforms, and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The state alleges that the social media giant has failed to protect children from sexual abuse, online socialisation, and human trafficking.
Torrez emphasises that their investigation reveals Meta's platforms are not safe for children but instead serve as prime locations for predators. The statement from New Mexico Attorney General states,
Our investigation into Meta’s social media platforms demonstrates that they are not safe spaces for children but rather prime locations for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex.
Exploitation enabled by Meta
The Attorney General accuses Meta of enabling adults to find, contact, and pressure children into providing explicit content. Despite Meta's claims of using advanced technology and hiring child safety experts, Torrez asserts that the company has not made sufficient changes to prevent the exploitation of children on its platforms.
Meta's response
In response, Meta defends its efforts, citing the use of sophisticated technology, collaboration with experts, and disabling over 500,000 accounts for violating child sexual exploitation policies in August alone. However, Torrez alleges that Zuckerberg and Meta executives are aware of the harm their products pose to young users but have not taken adequate measures.
National & ongoing legal landscape
This lawsuit adds to the legal troubles for Meta, as Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen filed a similar suit, claiming Instagram was intentionally designed to be addictive, especially for minors.
In October, more than 40 U.S. states sued Meta, accusing it of contributing to a youth mental health crisis. Senators Ed Markey and Bill Cassidy also accused Meta of intentionally evading children's privacy laws.
These legal actions are part of a broader trend where social media companies, including Meta, TikTok, and YouTube, face numerous lawsuits related to the addictiveness of their platforms, particularly concerning the well-being of children and teens.
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