Attorney General Raul Torrez of New Mexico announced on Wednesday that the state has filed a lawsuit against CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Meta Platforms (META.O). The parent company of Facebook and Instagram. Alleging that the social media giant had neglected to shield minors from human trafficking. Including online harassment and sexual assault.
“Our examination of Meta’s social media platforms indicates that they are not kid-safe areas. But rather popular venues for predators to exchange child porn and approach minors for sexual activity,” a statement from Torrez said. He said that Meta allowed “dozens of adults to find, contact, and press children. Into provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves or participate in pornographic videos.”
In response, Meta however noted that it reports content to the National Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, employs child safety specialists, makes use of cutting-edge technology, and provides “information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, including state attorneys general, to help root out predators.” Meta reported that it has terminated over 500,000 accounts for breaking the rules against child sexual exploitation in just August.
Torrez stated that Zuckerberg and other executives at Meta “are indeed 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.” It was revealed on Tuesday by Montana’s attorney general, Austin Knudsen. The state was suing Meta, claiming that Instagram was “intentionally designed to be addictive, particularly to minors.”
New Mexico Sues Mark Zuckerberg and Meta
In October, Meta was sued by over forty U.S. states. Who claimed that the company’s addictive social media platforms were contributing to a crisis in juvenile mental health.
Attorneys general from 33 states, including New York and California, said that Meta indeed purposefully encouraged young children and teens to use social media in an addicted and compulsive manner, and had consistently deceived the public about the risks associated with its platforms. Similar cases were brought by Washington, D.C., and eight other U.S. states.
These lawsuits are also the most recent in a line of legal proceedings brought by kids and teenagers against social media firms. Numerous cases about the addictive nature of social media have already been brought on behalf of children. And also from school districts against Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok, and Alphabet’s (GOOGL.O) YouTube.
Senators Ed Markey and Bill Cassidy of the United States warned on Tuesday. That Meta was indeed willfully breaking a law protecting the privacy of children and urged the firm to stop.
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