New Mexico sues Snapchat over alleged child abuse and exploitation

New Mexico has filed a lawsuit against Snapchat, accusing the platform of facilitating the sexual exploitation of children and distributing child sexual abuse material. Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Snap Inc. in state court after an undercover investigation revealed that Snapchat’s design and policies facilitate exploitation.

“Snapchat is a breeding ground for predators who collect sexually explicit images of children and track, manipulate, and extort them,” the lawsuit says.

The lawsuit alleges that Snapchat’s algorithms enable child trafficking, drug sales and weapons distribution, in addition to sexual abuse.

According to the complaint, Snapchat ranks first among all social media platforms for reports of online sexual interactions with minors and recruitment of sex trafficking victims.

The investigation found that in just one year, more than 10,000 child sexual abuse files had been collected, including information on sexual assaults against minors under the age of 13.

Researchers also found that Snapchat accounts were openly circulating and selling child abuse images directly on the platform.

The case highlights the widespread problem of sexual extortion, or “sextortion,” in which victims are coerced into sharing explicit photos and then blackmailed.

The legal action follows a similar lawsuit Torrez filed against Meta last December, highlighting a growing focus on holding social media platforms accountable for the safety of users.