New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc. and its president and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, for condoning human trafficking and the marketing and display of child pornography on the company's different platforms.
Through a statement, the State Attorney General, Raúl Torrez, explained that the investigation carried out on Facebook and Instagram - one of Meta's subsidiary companies - demonstrated that "they are not safe spaces for children but rather prime locations for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex." In addition, he added that Justice and the state Administration will use "all available tools" so that Zuckerberg's company does not go unpunished and always puts "profits before safety of children."
Today, #NMAG Raúl Torrez moved to hold @Meta and Mark Zuckerberg accountable for promoting child pornography and facilitating human trafficking of minors instead of protecting New Mexico’s children.https://t.co/zqS3QEUWsN pic.twitter.com/xirh0ZkD79
— NM Attorney General (@NewMexicoOAG) December 6, 2023
Among the conclusions of the investigation, the New Mexico attorney general's office detailed that Meta allowed "dozens of adults to find, contact, and press children into providing sexually explicit pictures of themselves or participate in pornographic videos," as well as "recommending that the children join unmoderated Facebook groups devoted to facilitating commercial sex."
On the other hand, the lawsuit alleges that "Facebook and Instagram permits users to find, share, and sell an enormous volume of child pornography" and "a fictitious mother to offer her 13-year-old daughter for sale to sex traffickers and to create a professional page to allow her daughter to share revenue from advertising."
"Aware of the serious damage" they cause to minors
Torrez blamed Zuckerberg and other members of Meta Platforms, Inc.'s board for not doing everything possible to prevent child pornography on your company's platforms :
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. 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.
It is not the first time that Meta and its platforms have faced a lawsuit for being harmful to minors. In October, the attorney general's offices of 33 states - both Republican and Democratic - denounced the company chaired by Zuckerberg before a federal court in California for distributing content and applications with addictive effects on children.
