Snapchat’s ‘disappearing’ messages make it easy for predators to target kids, state lawsuit alleges
Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
Snapchat is the app of choice for criminals targeting kids for sextortion or child sexual abuse material (CSAM), New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez alleges in a new lawsuit filed against the app’s owner, Snap.
The suit accuses Snap of violating New Mexico law against unfair practices and public nuisance based on design elements like its “disappearing” messages and alleged failure to police predators. “Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear,” Torrez said in a statement. “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.”
Torrez’s office ran an undercover…
