Legal action was taken by New Mexico against Snap Inc., the company that owns Snapchat, on Thursday. The lawsuit claims that certain policies and design elements of the messaging app encourage the sharing of content that could be used to exploit children for sexual purposes.
Lawsuit filed against Snapchat
A months-long investigation, according to the lawsuit filed by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez, revealed that Snapchat was the main venue for sextortion—a tactic in which a predator coerces a minor into sending explicit photos or videos and threatens to distribute the content unless more sexual content or money is paid.
According to a representative for Snap, the business was looking into the complaint and would reply in court.
As per the spokesperson, Snap has allocated hundreds of millions of dollars towards its trust and safety teams and plans to persist in cooperating with law enforcement, online safety experts, and other relevant organizations. Teens and younger users love Snapchat, which is well-known for its 24-hour disappearing messages.
According to Torrez’s statement, Snap has tricked users into thinking that messages posted on their platform will vanish. However, predators can permanently record this content, and they have managed to compile a virtual yearbook of child sex photos and videos that can be bought, sold, and kept forever.
As part of the state Department of Justice’s investigation, a 14-year-old girl named Heather created a fake Snapchat account, which she used to message other accounts with explicit names and one called “child.rape.”
Moreover, 10,000 records about child sexual abuse content on dark websites and Snapchat were discovered by investigators. After examining various dark websites, they concluded that Snapchat was “by far the largest source of images and videos.” On similar charges of failing to shield minors from sexual abuse and predation, New Mexico sued Meta Platforms in December.
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