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TO HEAR FROM THE COMMUNITY BEFORE WRITING UP THE PROPOSAL. AND NEW DETAILS COMING IN IN THE LAWSUIT FILED BY NEW MEXICO’S ATTORNEY GENERAL AGAINST SNAPCHAT. OUR REPORTER COREY HOWARD SPOKE WITH THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ABOUT THIS TODAY. COREY. YEAH. DARLENE. DURING THAT CONVERSATION, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL SAID THAT HE FOUND PROOF THAT THE SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORM DID NOT PROTECT ITS USERS. INSTEAD, THEY ALLOWED SEXTORTION AND SIMPLY TURNED A BLIND EYE. IT IS NOT ONLY A PLACE WHERE EXPLICIT SEXUAL MATERIAL CHILD PORNOGRAPHY AND DRUGS ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO UNDERAGE USERS, BUT ALSO IT IS A PRIMARY LOCATION FOR PEOPLE WHO ARE TARGETING CHILDREN FOR SEXTORTION. ACCORDING TO THE ATTORNEY GENERAL, RAUL TORREZ, MANY USERS BELIEVE THE PLATFORM IS SAFE AND THE CONTENT THEY POST DISAPPEARS AFTER 24 HOURS. BUT TORRES SAYS THAT’S NOT THE CASE. WHAT WE’VE DISCOVERED IS THAT EPHEMERAL CONTENT IS IS ACTUALLY EASILY CAPTURED BY PEOPLE WHO WOULD PREY ON CHILDREN. TORRES SAID DURING THE INVESTIGATION, HIS OFFICE FOUND A USER WHO HAD MORE THAN 75 COMPLAINTS AND THEIR ACCOUNT WAS STILL ACTIVE. THE LAWSUIT GOES INTO FURTHER DETAIL, SAYING 76% OF MORE THAN 6000 USERS CLAIMED TO EXPERIENCE AT LEAST ONE ONLINE RISK IN THE LAST THREE MONTHS. WE DID REACH OUT TO SNAPCHAT AND A LENGTHY STATEMENT THE COMPANY MENTIONED THE ISSUES MENTIONED IN THE NEW MEXICO ATTORNEY GENERAL’S COMPLAINT ARE NEITHER NEW NOR UNIQUE TO SNAPCHAT. THESE ARE ISSUES WE HAVE BEEN WORKING TO ADDRESS FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS. AS WE SAID IN SEPTEMBER, WE SHARE ATTORNEY GENERAL TORRES AND THE PUBLIC’S CONCERN ABOUT ONLINE SAFETY FOR YOUNG PEOPLE AND ARE DEEPLY COMMITTED TO SNAPCHAT BEING A SAFE PLACE AND POSITIVE PLACE FOR OUR ENTIRE COMMUNITY. NOW THAT YOU BROUGHT THESE CONCERNS TO SNAPCHAT, WHAT IS THEIR RESPONSE BEEN TO YOU? WELL, UNFORTUNATELY, THEY’RE FOLLOWING THE SAME PLAYBOOK THAT WE’VE SEEN WITH OTHER SOCIAL MEDIA COMPANIES. NOW, TORRES WENT ON TO SAY, DESPITE BRINGING IN SECURITY EXPERTS, THE COMPANY FAILED TO FOLLOW THE EXPERTS ADVICE AND THE COMPANY RECEIVES ABOUT 10,000 REPORTS. A MONTH OF SEXTORTION ON THEIR PLATFORM. CORY HOWARD, KOAT ACTION SEVEN NEWS. CORY, THANK YOU. AND BACK IN DECEMBER, THE ATTORNEY GENERAL ALSO FILE
New Mexico attorney general says Snapchat put users at risk of sextortion
Thousands of children use Snapchat, and New Mexico's attorney general says he has proof those kids are at risk. See the interview in the video aboveNew Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit in September against Snapchat. He said he found proof that sextortion is happening on Snapchat and that after seeing the complaints, the company continued to turn a blind eye."It is not only a place where explicit sexual material, child pornography, and drugs are made available to underage users, but it is also a primary location for people who are targeting children for sextortion," Torrez said.According to Torrez, many users believe the platform is safe, and the content they post disappears after 24 hours, but Torrez says that is not always the case."What we discovered (is that) content is easily captured by people who would prey on children," Torrez said.Torrez explained that one account had more than 75 complaints but remained active.The lawsuit goes into further details, saying 76% of more than 6,000 users claimed to have experienced at least one online risk in the last three months.Snapchat responded with the following statement (click here to read the full statement):“We designed Snapchat as a place to communicate with a close circle of friends, with built-in safety guardrails, and have made deliberate design choices to make it difficult for strangers to discover minors on our service. We continue to evolve our safety mechanisms and policies, from leveraging advanced technology to detect and block certain activity, to prohibiting friending from suspicious accounts, to working alongside law enforcement and government agencies, among so much more."We care deeply about our work here and it pains us when bad actors abuse our service. We know that no one person, agency, or company can advance this work alone, which is why we are working collaboratively across the industry, government, and law enforcement to exchange information and concept stronger defenses.” This is not the first time Torrez has gone after a social media giant. In December 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's platforms.
Thousands of children use Snapchat, and New Mexico's attorney general says he has proof those kids are at risk.
See the interview in the video above
New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit in September against Snapchat. He said he found proof that sextortion is happening on Snapchat and that after seeing the complaints, the company continued to turn a blind eye.
"It is not only a place where explicit sexual material, child pornography, and drugs are made available to underage users, but it is also a primary location for people who are targeting children for sextortion," Torrez said.
According to Torrez, many users believe the platform is safe, and the content they post disappears after 24 hours, but Torrez says that is not always the case.
"What we discovered (is that) content is easily captured by people who would prey on children," Torrez said.
Torrez explained that one account had more than 75 complaints but remained active.
The lawsuit goes into further details, saying 76% of more than 6,000 users claimed to have experienced at least one online risk in the last three months.
Snapchat responded with the following statement (click here to read the full statement):
“We designed Snapchat as a place to communicate with a close circle of friends, with built-in safety guardrails, and have made deliberate design choices to make it difficult for strangers to discover minors on our service. We continue to evolve our safety mechanisms and policies, from leveraging advanced technology to detect and block certain activity, to prohibiting friending from suspicious accounts, to working alongside law enforcement and government agencies, among so much more.
"We care deeply about our work here and it pains us when bad actors abuse our service. We know that no one person, agency, or company can advance this work alone, which is why we are working collaboratively across the industry, government, and law enforcement to exchange information and concept stronger defenses.”
This is not the first time Torrez has gone after a social media giant. In December 2023, he filed a lawsuit against Mark Zuckerberg and Meta's platforms.
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