Facebook, Instagram turn haven for child predators as algorithm preys on kids, new lawsuit claims

A new lawsuit brought by New Mexico Attorney General Raul Torrez against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg has claimed that subsidiaries Facebook and Instagram are steering explicit content towards children even when no interest is expressed, allowing child predators to find and contact minors.

Torrez said instead of providing a safe space for children, the platforms are allowing predators to establish contact with unsuspecting minors and solicit them for sex. The AG said Meta was unwilling to take required protections due to the potential hit on advertising revenue.

"Meta has allowed Facebook and Instagram to become a marketplace for predators in search of children upon whom to prey," the lawsuit alleges.

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The suit was filed after an undercover investigation carried out by Torrez's office. Phony accounts of fictional teens and preteens were created using artificial intelligence-generated images. As soon as the accounts were created, Meta flooded sexual content in the feed using its algorithm, which in turn led to a stream ofexplicit messages and propositions from adults on the platforms.

An account that had images of a fictional 13-year-old girl in Albuquerque received thousands of adult followers in no time. On Facebook Messenger, the fictional teen received graphic videos and photos three to four times a week from predators.

"Mr Zuckerberg and other Meta executives are aware of the serious harm their products can pose to young users, and yet they have failed to make sufficient changes to their platforms that would prevent the sexual exploitation of children," Torrez said in a statement.

EU serves deadline to Meta

The new suit comes days after the European Union regulators pulled Meta, asking the company toprovide more details on measures it had taken to tackle self-generated child sexual abuse material (SC-CSAM) available onInstagram.

The EU has given a December 22 deadline to the company to submit its reply. Failure to do so will result in a formal investigation under the new EU online content rules.

A year ago, Meta was fined nearly half a billion dollars after the platform was found to have violated the bloc's data protection rules for minors. It is the largestGeneral Data Protection Regulation (GDPR)penalty that the EU hasimposed on a social media giant to date.

(With inputs from agencies)