An American state has filed a case against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg making serious allegations. New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez said Wednesday that the state has sued Facebook and Instagram’s meta platforms and CEO Mark Zuckerberg. “Our investigation into Meta’s social media platforms shows that they are not safe spaces for children, but have become prime locations for trafficking in pornography and soliciting minors for sex,” Torrez said in a statement.
Raul Torrez alleged that Meta has repeatedly misled the public about the significant dangers of its social media platform. It has hidden the ways in which these platforms exploit and manipulate their most vulnerable consumers, teenagers and children. He said Meta has enabled dozens of adults to find, contact, and pressure children to upload their pornographic videos and images.
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More than five lakh accounts closed
In response, Meta said that it uses refined technology, child safety experts have also been hired. It also reports the material to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. According to Meta, it shares information with other companies including the State Attorney General. Meta said it closed more than 500,000 accounts for violating child sexual exploitation policies in August alone.
Torrez said Zuckerberg and other Meta executives are aware of the serious harm their products cause to young users, and yet they have failed to make substantial changes to their platforms to prevent the sexual exploitation of children.
Promote mental health crisis
Montana Attorney General Austin Knudsen announced Tuesday that the state is suing Meta, saying Instagram was intentionally designed to be addictive, especially to minors. In October, more than 40 US states sued Meta, accusing them of fueling the youth mental health crisis by making their social media platform addictive, according to media reports.
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Case filed in 33 states
Attorneys general from 33 states, including California and New York, said Meta repeatedly misled the public about the dangers of its platforms, and knowingly induced young children and teens into addiction and use of social media. Eight other US states and Washington, D.C. Similar cases have been filed. These cases are the latest in a series of legal actions against social media companies on behalf of children and teens.
social media addiction
Hundreds of lawsuits have already been filed against Meta, ByteDance’s TikTok and Alphabet’s YouTube on behalf of children and school districts over social media addiction. On Tuesday, US senators Ed Markey and Bill Cassidy said that Meta was deliberately avoiding children’s privacy laws. He called on the company to stop this practice.
