Snapchat is a ‘breeding ground’ for child abusers, New Mexico prosecutors say

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez has filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc. following an undercover investigationand accuses the company of creating a “breeding ground” for child sexual exploitation through the Snapchat app. The lawsuit, filed Thursday, alleges that Snapchat’s Disappearing Pictures and messages have helped child abusers collect sexually explicit images of children and use them for extortion.

According to the state, Snapchat has become the “primary forum” for these “sextortion” schemes, largely due to its unique design features. The platform’s ephemeral messages and other elements that connect users have created a “false sense of security” that makes it easier for child abusers to target minors, the lawsuit argues.

The lawsuit is the result of a months-long undercover investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice, who exposed a “large network” of dark web sites sharing non-consensual images from Snapchat. According to a press release from the Public Prosecution Service, more than 10,000 such documents have been found in the past year alone.

“Our undercover investigation revealed that Snapchat’s harmful design features create an environment where child molesters can easily target children through sextortion and other forms of sexual abuse,” Attorney General Torrez said in a statement.

Torrez criticized Snap Inc. for allegedly misleading users into believing their content would disappear after it was viewed. “Snap misled users into believing that photos and videos sent to its platform would disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely,” he added.

The lawsuit also argues that Snapchat’s attempts to differentiate itself from other social media platforms are misguided and potentially dangerous.

“Snap may claim that Snapchat is different from other social media, but those claims are willfully false,” the lawsuit says. “Snap’s conduct is not only dangerously misleading, it is also unlawful.”

New Mexico isn’t stopping Snap Inc. The state is also suing Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for allegedly enabling similar child sexual exploitation activities on its platforms.

Snap Inc. responded to the allegations on Thursday, saying that They are investigating the Attorney General’s complaint and will respond to it in court.

“We share Attorney General Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about youth safety online and are deeply committed to ensuring that Snapchat is a safe and positive place for our entire community, especially our younger users,” a Snap spokesperson said in a statement. “We’ve worked hard to find, remove and report bad actors, educate our community, and give teens, as well as parents and caregivers, tools to help them stay safe online.”

The spokesperson added: “We understand that online threats continue to evolve and we will continue to work hard to address these critical issues.”