He prosecuted child sex predators. Now, he’s going after Meta for allegedly enabling them
CLARE DUFFY, CNN
March 8, 2024 at 4:53 PM
When Raúl Torrez, then a young prosecutor in a rural New Mexico, was preparing one of his first child abuse cases, he went to his father for advice.
Torrez expected his dad, a career prosecutor, to offer some tips about preparing evidence or addressing the jury. Instead, Presiliano Torrez asked: “Have you met this little boy?”
“He really had me focus on thinking about the impact on this child,” the younger Torrez said, recalling the case against the father of an infant suffering from shaken baby syndrome.
The guidance changed the way Raúl Torrez thought about his work as a prosecutor. His dad had “made it clear that the work I was doing, especially in that space, was to try and give voice to people that didn’t have the abilities to go and advocate for themselves,” he said.
Now, Torrez is applying that same focus as he takes on a powerful new opponent in court: Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, and its CEO Mark Zuckerberg.
Less than a year into his new role as New Mexico’s attorney general, Torrez in December
filed a lawsuit accusing Meta of creating a “breeding ground” for child predators and exposing young users to sexually explicit material. The complaint alleges that Meta employees have for years raised alarms that children may be at risk of sexual abuse on its platforms, but that the company has failed to adequately address the issue. (Meta has firmly pushed back on the claims and says it has more than 30
safety and well-being tools for teens and parents.)
Meta, along with other major social media companies, faces growing
scrutiny over the safety of young users on its platforms. Lawmakers, parents and online safety advocates have raised concerns about the impact of social media on teens’ mental health, body image and overall wellbeing. But of the
several lawsuits filed against Meta over child safety in recent years, none have
focused as pointedly as Torrez’s case on alleged child sexual exploitation.
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