Snapchat is a primary platform for online predators who use “exploitation” schemes to coerce minors into sending graphic images and videos of themselves and then use the explicit material as blackmail, according to a lawsuit filed by New Mexico.
Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced Thursday that his office has taken legal action against Snapchat parent company Snap after a months-long investigation.
Torrez alleged that Snapchat — a photo-sharing app popular with teenagers and young users known for messages that disappear within 24 hours — has policies and design features that facilitate the sharing and distribution of child sexual exploitation material.
“Snap has tricked users into believing that photos and videos sent to their platform will disappear, but predators can capture this content forever, and they’ve created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold and stored for a indefinitely,” Torrez said in a statement.
The investigation by the New Mexico Department of Justice used a Snapchat account impersonating a 14-year-old girl named “Heather,” who continued to exchange messages with an account named “child.rape” and others with names clearly.
Investigators also found 10,000 records related to Snap content and child sexual abuse on the dark web, saying Snapchat was “the largest source of images and videos among the dark web sites investigated.”
The post has sought comment from Snap.
Last December, New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms alleging that its social media networks Facebook and Instagram failed to protect minor users from adult sexual content and disturbing messages from suspected child predators — including “photos and genitalia videos” and six-figure deals to star in porn movies.
State investigators used a similar book in the Meta investigation. They created test accounts on Meta-owned social media sites for four fictional children using AI-generated photos purportedly portraying children aged 14 or younger.
“The flaw has allowed Facebook and Instagram to become a marketplace for predators looking for children to prey on,” said the complaint, which criticized the tech giant founded by Mark Zuckerberg as engaging in behavior that was “unacceptable” and ” illegal”. “
The company has argued that it goes to great lengths to protect young users from harm.
“We use sophisticated technology, employ child safety experts, report content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, and share information and tools with other companies and law enforcement, including state attorneys general, to help eradicate predators,” Meta said in a statement.
In July, Meta said it took down about 63,000 Instagram accounts in Nigeria that were trying to engage in “breakup” scams, mostly targeting grown men and some children in the US.
Within those 63,000 accounts, Meta said it identified a network of 2,500 accounts run by a group of 20 individuals who “primarily targeted male adults in the US and used fake accounts to mask their identities.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Barrabi and Taylor Herzlich
#Snapchat #Favored #Child #Predators #Trespass #Clear #Images #Minors #Lawsuit
Image Source : nypost.com