Social Media Giants Face Lawsuits Over Child Exploitation and Safety Concerns

New Mexico's attorney general has filed a civil lawsuit against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, alleging that Facebook and Instagram facilitated child sexual abuse, solicitation, and trafficking. The suit claims that sexually explicit content targeting minors and the distribution of child sexual abuse material (CSAM) is ten times more prevalent on Facebook and Instagram compared to platforms like PornHub and OnlyFans. The lawsuit accuses Meta of violating the state's Unfair Practice Act by promoting sex and exploitation content through its algorithms, lacking effective age verification, and failing to identify and prevent child sexual exploitation networks. New Mexico seeks civil penalties and demands that Meta implement better age verification, improve CSAM detection and removal systems, and address functionalities that amplify CSAM.