Facebook’s Zuckerberg, at the Congress hearing/screenshot
Facebook/Meta is in trouble again over the content that underage users of its services like Instagram are exposed to. Now the State of New Mexico is charging that the world’s largest social media platform is exposing minors to pornography and sexual predators. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg is also named in the suit that alleges the social media company failed to adequately protect children from sexual abuse, online solicitation, and human trafficking.
“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,” said New Mexico Attorney General Torrez. “As a career prosecutor who specialized in internet crimes against children, I am committed to using every available tool to put an end to these horrific practices and I will hold companies — and their executives — accountable whenever they put profits ahead of children’s safety.”
“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,” AG Torrez added. “Despite repeated assurances to Congress and the public that they can be trusted to police themselves, it is clear that Meta’s executives continue to prioritize engagement and ad revenue over the safety of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
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In response, Meta released a statement saying, “Preventing child exploitation is one of the most important challenges facing our industry today.”
Facebook also said that it takes “recent allegations about the effectiveness of our work very seriously,” and that the firm created a task force to “review existing policies, examine technology and enforcement systems we have in place.”
Meta went on to say that the company is “working hard to stay ahead” and that in addition to developing technology that “roots out predators” it is also hiring “specialists dedicated to online child safety and we share information with our industry peers and law enforcement.”
This new law suit comes just two months after a whopping civil suit brought by 33 US states, led by Colorado and California, accused Meta/Facebook of collecting the personal information of children under the age of 13 and also causing a mental health crisis among youth by making its Instagram social media platform addictive.
Filed in an Oakland California federal court, the suit alleges Meta’s services caused depression, anxiety, and insomnia in young children.
