New Mexico AG files case against Snap alleging platform enables child exploitation (update)
Contributor since / Followers
stockcam/iStock Unreleased via Getty Images
The office of New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez said Thursday it filed a case against Snapchat (NYSE:SNAP) alleging that the social media company’s policies, content, and recommendation algorithm foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material and facilitate child sexual exploitation.
“Our undercover investigation revealed that Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment where predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” Attorney General Torrez said in a statement.
The statement said that Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators are able to permanently capture content, and they have created “a virtual yearbook of child sexual images” that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely.
The complaint further alleges that Snapchat’s features, algorithms, and policies fail its young users, and the company fails to verify users, and thus the platform is unable to prevent minors from accessing illegal and inappropriate content.
The New Mexico DOJ also alleges Snap and its executives have misled the public about the platform’s safety, including during congressional testimony and in a 2024 Super Bowl advertisement that declares the platform is “more private” and “less permanent” than other social media platforms.
A spokesperson for Snap gave Seeking Alpha the following statement on record: “We have received the New Mexico Attorney General’s complaint, are reviewing it carefully, and will respond to these claims in court. We share Attorney General Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about the online safety of young people and are deeply committed to Snapchat being a safe and positive place for our entire community, particularly for our younger users.”
“We have been working diligently to find, remove, and report bad actors, educate our community, and give teens, as well as parents and guardians, tools to help them be safe online. We understand that online threats continue to evolve, and we will continue to work diligently to address these critical issues. We have invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our trust and safety teams over the past several years and designed our service to promote online safety by moderating content and enabling direct messaging with close friends and family. We continue this work in collaboration with law enforcement, online safety experts, industry peers, parents, teens, educators, and policymakers towards our shared goal of keeping young people safe online,” the spokesperson concluded.