Snapchat accused by New Mexico of facilitating child sexual exploitation

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The New Mexico attorney general has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc., the parent company of Snapchat, alleging that the site’s algorithm and design “promote the sharing of child sexual abuse material and facilitate the sexual exploitation of children.”

“Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment where child abusers can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” Attorney General Raul Torrez said in a press release.

The lawsuit was filed in state court on Thursday.

“Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos posted to its platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and have created a virtual yearbook of child pornography images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely,” Torrez added.

In addition to sexual abuse, the lawsuit alleges that the company also openly promotes child trafficking, drug trafficking and weapons trafficking.

Snap Inc. said in a statement that it shares Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about young people’s online safety.

“We understand that online threats continue to evolve and we will continue to work hard to address these critical issues,” the Santa Monica, California-headquartered company said.

“We’ve invested hundreds of millions of dollars in our trust and safety teams over the past few years and designed our service to promote online safety by moderating content and enabling direct messaging with close friends and family.”

According to the complaint, minors report having more sexual interactions online on Snapchat than on any other platform. Additionally, Snapchat recruits more sex trafficking victims than any other platform.

Before the trial, New Mexico conducted a months-long undercover investigation into child sexual abuse images on Snapchat. As part of the undercover investigation, the New Mexico Department of Justice set up a fake Snapchat account for a 14-year-old named Heather, who found and exchanged messages with accounts with names including “child.rape” and “pedo_lover10.”

Snapchat, the lawsuit alleges, “was by far the largest source of images and videos among the dark web sites examined.”

Investigators also found Snapchat accounts openly distributing and selling child abuse images directly on the platform.

Last December, Torrez filed a similar lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, alleging that it allows predators to traffic child pornography and solicit minors for sex on its platforms. That lawsuit is pending.

In addition, reporting by the Associated Press