When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses.
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm
On December 6th, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Meta Platforms, Inc., the parent company of Facebook, LLC, and Instagram, for creating an environment in which young people are lured to sexually explicit content. The lawsuit states that this creates a forum where adult users can contact underage children, in turn putting these children at risk of sexual abuse and/or exploitation.
Mr. Torrez stated in an interview, “Our investigation into Meta’s social media platforms demonstrates that they are not safe spaces for children but rather prime locations for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex.”He also added, “As a career prosecutor who specialized in internet crimes against children, I am committed to using every available tool to put an end to these horrific practices and I will hold companies — and their executives — accountable whenever they put profits ahead of children’s safety.”
The New Mexico Attorney General’s Office carried out an undercover investigation of the social media giant’s platforms and found that FaceBook and Instagram both steered underage users to posts of unsolicited sexually explicit images, suggested that under-age youth join Facebook groups that allowed adults to contact them, and to provide sexually explicit pictures of themselves. The operation also found that Facebook and Instagram users could find, share, and sell child pornography and that the platforms recommended that the children join unmoderated Facebook groups focusing on facilitating commercial sex.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Torrez stated that “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.” He added, “Despite repeated assurances to Congress and the public that they can be trusted to police themselves, it is clear that Meta’s executives continue to prioritize engagement and ad revenue over the safety of the most vulnerable members of our society.”
Mr. Torrez has hit the nail on the head: The social media giant prioritizes time spent online over child safety, and more time spent online means more money for Meta. Last year, Facebook generated nearly $114 billion in advertising revenue, and the secret to advertising revenue is keeping users online and engaged.
When a user clicks on an ad or a site, platform algorithms drive personalized content to that very user, creating a snowball effect. As algorithms that maximize engagement gain steam, these profit-maximizing tools also create a darker side pushing users to the darker realms of online extremism, as well as sexual exploitation.
Last May, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children reported that online child exploitation increased on several social media platforms, and In 2022, the US Child Safety Agency received more than 32 million reports of online child sexual abuse material, enticement, child sex trafficking, and child sexual abuse material (an increase of 2.7 million from the previous year).
Although U.S. Federal law prohibits the “production, distribution, importation, reception, or possession of any image of child sex abuse material,” and section 2251 makes it “illegal to persuade, induce, entice, or coerce a minor to engage in sexually explicit conduct for the purposes of producing visual depictions of that conduct,” the law itself does not require that online platforms must find, remove and report it. Social media platforms are left to police themselves.
Meta countered by claiming that it deploys sophisticated technology, hires child safety experts, and reports suspicious content to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. However, the facts show that such efforts fall short.
Although “profit seldom loses to morality,” the New Mexico Attorney General’s lawsuit is an important step in confronting corporations who seek to maximize profits at the expense of the innocent.