"Alleged". That word will be used a lot in the press when describing the upcoming case, as according to The Guardian, a jury trial is starting in less than a week in New Mexico where Meta is facing serious allegations of knowingly enabling child predators to use Instagram and Facebook for child exploitation.
New Mexico attorney general Raul Torrez claims to have evidence of how both social networks owned by Meta expose children to not only exploitation, but also human trafficking, sextortion, and even solicitation.
Allegedly, the very design choices made, focusing on engagement due to profit incentives, are prioritised over safety features and functional safeguards. Worse for Facebook, New Mexico claims that groups devoted to selling, buying, and sharing abuse material are run without interference. Since the groups also had ads displayed, Meta stand accused of making money on the groups.
Meta has denied all accusations, calling it sensationalist, but given that The Guardian has been a frontrunner in investigating Facebook, to a degree where they are named in the trial, chances are that Meta will not emerge from the trial unharmed. This follows their attempt to have the case dismissed, citing both the First Amendment and the US Communications Act that states - generally - that platforms are not responsible for user generated content.
The trials are expected to last until the end of March, and come on top of an existing trial we reported on earlier this year, in which a number of SoMe companies, including Facebook, tried to hide evidence of internal investigations linking social media to depression, addiction, and mental problems in young people. This is on top of a number of problematic stories over the last few years, including reports of unwanted advances towards children reaching six digit numbers, and The Guardian even names a 2023 case where an Instagram staff member testified about how his own daughter was targeted, but he was still ignored when notifying Meta leadership.