New Mexico attorney general sues company behind Snapchat alleging child sexual extortion on the site

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New Mexico’s attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the company behind Snapchat

AP Technology Writer — New Mexico's attorney general has filed a lawsuit against the company behind Snapchat, alleging that site's design and policies foster the sharing of child sexual abuse material and facilitate child sexual exploitation.

Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed the lawsuit against Snap Inc. Thursday in state court in Santa Fe. In addition to sexual abuse, the lawsuit claims the company also openly promotes child trafficking, drugs and guns.

Last December, Torrez filed a similar lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, saying it allows predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex on its platforms. That suit is pending.

Snap's “harmful design features create an environment where predators can easily target children through sextortion schemes and other forms of sexual abuse,” Torrez said in a statement. Sexual extortion, or sextortion, involves persuading a person to send explicit photos online and then threatening to make the images public unless the victim pays money or engages in sexual favors.

“Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and they have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely,” Torres said.

In a statement, Snap said it shares Torrez’s and the public’s concerns about the online safety of young people.

“We understand that online threats continue to evolve and we will continue to work diligently to address these critical issues," the company based in Santa Monica, California, said. We have invested