Meta Platforms Connects Children With Predators, New Mexico Says

Meta Platforms Inc. and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg were hit with a sweeping lawsuit from New Mexico’s attorney general claiming Facebook and Instagram are “a breeding ground” for predators who target children for sexual grooming and trafficking.

The social media platforms enabled adults to ask children for sexually explicit images and allowed users to trade and sell “enormous volumes” of child sexual abuse material, according to the AG’s complaint filed Wednesday in New Mexico state court.

“Mr. Zuckerberg and other Meta executives are aware of the serious harm their products can pose to young users, and yet they have failed to make sufficient changes to their platforms that would prevent the sexual exploitation of children,” the state’s attorney general Raúl Torrez said in a statement.

A Meta spokesperson said it disabled more than 500,000 accounts in August 2023 for violating child safety policies. The company also said it sent 7.6 million reports of child exploitation to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children in the third quarter this year.

“Child exploitation is a horrific crime and online predators are determined criminals,” said a Meta spokesperson who cited the company’s use of tools including “sophisticated technology” to root out predators.

Torrez’s office said its conducted an undercover investigation over the past few month by creating decoy accounts of children 14-years and younger that were served sexually explicit images and posts even when they didn’t express interest in that content. Meta failed to detect and disable a decoy Facebook account of a fictional mother who offered her 13-year-old daughter for trafficking, the complaint alleged.

“For years, Meta has been on notice from both external and internal sources of the sexual exploitation dangers its platforms present for children,” the complaint said.

The over 200-page lawsuit comes after over 40 state attorneys general sued Meta in October, alleging the tech behemoth has caused a youth mental health crisis through addictive algorithms. Montana’s attorney general brought a similar case on Tuesday. New Mexico’s lawsuit contains similar claims about Facebook and Instagram’s addictive designs.

Meta, Google LLC, TikTok Inc. and Snap Inc. are also facing hundreds of civil lawsuits across the country from parents and school districts alleging the platforms harm children.

The case is State of New Mexico v. Meta Platforms Inc., No. D-101-CV-2023-02838, 12/6/23.