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A teenage girl uses her smartphone in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Photograph: Shiiko Alexander/Alamy
A teenage girl uses her smartphone in Santa Fe, New Mexico.
Photograph: Shiiko Alexander/Alamy
Rights and freedomGlobal development



NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL ASKS JUDGE TO STOP META REMOVING CHILD ABUSE
EVIDENCE FROM ITS SITES

Raúl Torrez said that one day after his office filed lawsuit accusing the social
media company of enabling groomers, Meta deactivated accounts set up and used by
investigators



Supported by

About this content
Katie McQue
@katiemcque
Fri 22 Dec 2023 05.43 ESTLast modified on Sat 23 Dec 2023 14.24 EST
 * 
 * 
 * 



The New Mexico attorney general’s office has asked a judge to prevent Meta from
removing evidence of alleged child sexual exploitation from Facebook and
Instagram, which it says is related to legal action it is taking against the
company.

In court papers filed this week, attorney general Raúl Torrez requested that
Meta be ordered to preserve all evidence he says was found by his investigators
after they created undercover social media accounts on its social media
platforms and posed as children as young as 12.



The evidence collected, which Torrez claims includes child sexual abuse
material, was cited in a lawsuit filed by the New Mexico attorney general’s
office on 5 December, accusing Meta of enabling adults to find, message and
groom children on Facebook, Instagram and Threads, and solicit them to sell
pictures or participate in pornographic material.



In the new court papers, Torrez said that one day after his office filed the
lawsuit, Meta deactivated the accounts set up and used by investigators.

This was “even though the accounts at issue had operated for months without
action by Meta, and even though investigators had previously reported illicit
and unlawful content to Meta through its reporting channels”, the document
states.

It adds: “Meta’s disabling of these accounts prevents the state from continuing
its investigation into Meta’s activities. [The state] no longer had access to
data within those accounts.”

In the new filing, the attorney general said that Meta had informed its office
that it intended to permanently delete these accounts within 30 days and that
the company intends to only preserve evidence that it deems relevant to the
lawsuit.

The New Mexico lawsuit follows a Guardian investigation in April that uncovered
how Meta is failing to report or detect the use of its platforms for child
trafficking.

“We will of course preserve data consistent with our legal obligations,” said a
Meta spokesperson. “Child exploitation is a horrific crime, and online predators
are determined criminals.

“We use sophisticated technology, hire 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 root out predators.

“In one month alone, we disabled more than half a million accounts for violating
our child safety policies.”

Explore more on these topics
 * Global development
 * Rights and freedom
 * Meta
 * Social media
 * New Mexico
 * Digital media
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