New Mexico AG alleges Meta enabled child exploitation on platforms
Meta claims First Amendment, Section 230 shield it from liability
Meta faces scrutiny over child safety, mental health impacts
Jan 30 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms (META.O), opens new tab is set to face trial next week in a lawsuit brought by the state of New Mexico accusing it of exposing children and teens to sexual exploitation on its platforms and profiting from it, the first case of its kind against the social media giant to reach a jury.
The lawsuit, brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez, a Democrat, alleges the company promoted illegal content and enabled the sexual exploitation of children on its Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp platforms. The lawsuit claims Meta allowed predators unfettered access to underage users and connected them with victims, often leading to real-world abuse and human …
The allegations in this story seem a bit of a stretch to me. And I’d be willing to bet this attorney general will be running for governor soon.
I don’t have a Meta acct for my reasons (not because they won’t let me have one) but doesn’t one have to opt-in for some of the features to be enjoyed, e.g., continuous video play, or is everything an opt-out setting if you don’t want to have it? How do these solicitors know the people they are blasting with their messages are minors to begin with? I am just seeing the part where the parent isn’t doing their part despite the years of messages saying they need to monitor their kids online content consumption and Meta is getting blamed. This will be interesting.