NM AG files lawsuit against Snapchat over child sex abuse

Snapchat lawsuit overview:

• Who: New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc.
• Why: Torrez claims the Snapchat app enables the spread of child sex abuse material and harms the health and safety of New Mexico youth.
• Where: The Snapchat lawsuit was filed in the First Judicial Court in Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez filed a 164-page lawsuit claiming that Snapchat is one of the most “pernicious purveyors of child sex abuse material” on children’s devices, Law360 reports.

Torrez’s Snapchat lawsuit says the social media platform is designed to appeal to young people and encourage addiction to the platform, while also enabling predators to use the platform to prey on children and teenagers.

More than 20 million teenagers are registered as Snapchat users, the lawsuit claims.

Snapchat content purportedly disappears over time, providing users with false reassurance it was not stored, according to the Snapchat lawsuit; however, Torrez’s suit claims it is possible for users to capture and save images that can be used for future “sextortion” or blackmail.

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

Company failed to prevent spread of Snapchat child sex abuse material, AG alleges

The New Mexico investigation reportedly involved a decoy account posing as a 14-year-old girl. The decoy account reportedly exchanged messages with users who attempted to solicit explicit images and had account names like “child.rape” and “pedo_lover10.”

“Snap was specifically aware, but failed to warn children and parents, of ‘rampant’ and ‘massive’ sextortion on its platform – a problem so grave it drives children facing merciless and relentless blackmail demands or disclosure of intimate images to their family and friends to suicide,” the Snapchat lawsuit alleges.

Snap failed to design its app and moderate content, which has led to the spread of Snapchat child sex abuse material, endangering the health and safety of New Mexico youth, the complaint alleges.

The Snapchat lawsuit asserts claims for violations of New Mexico’s Unfair Practices Act and public nuisance laws.

This summer, a New Mexico state judge denied Meta’s attempt to dismiss a Facebook class action lawsuit alleging it enabled the sexual exploitation of minors on Instagram and Facebook.

Do you think Snap Inc. does enough to prevent Snapchat child sex abuse and exploitation? Join the discussion in the comments.

The state of New Mexico is represented by Raul Torrez, James W. Grayson, Julie Ann Meade and Julie Sakura of the New Mexico Department of Justice and Linda Singer and David I. Ackerman of Motley Rice LLC.

The Snapchat child sex abuse lawsuit is State of New Mexico, et al. v. Snap Inc., in the First Judicial District Court, Santa Fe County, New Mexico.

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