A new lawsuit charges Twitter allowed child-porn videos and images to remain on its platform even after it received complaints.
The social-media giant refused the requests, the complaint says, arguing the videos did not “violate policies.”
The videos, reportedly of a 13-year-old who was tricked and then blackmailed, eventually were removed after an agent of the Department of Homeland Security intervened.
“Only after this take-down demand from a federal agent did Twitter suspend the user accounts that were distributing the CSAM and report the CSAM to the National Center of Missing and Exploited Children,” explained the lawsuit, by the National Center on Missing and Exploited Children.
The New York Post reported the complaint alleges Twitter knowingly hosts people who use the platform to exchange child porn material and profits from it through advertising.
The report said the complaint in the Northern District of California was filed by the victim, whose name was not revealed, and his mother.
It alleges the 13-year-old was tricked by “sex traffickers” posing as a 16-year-old female classmate into recording nude videos.
Then he was told by the traffickers that if he didn’t share more sexually graphic photos and videos, the explicit material already sent would be shared with his “parents, coach, pastor” and others.
The child, “acting under duress,” complied, the lawsuit says.
He eventually blocked the traffickers, but several years later, the videos surfaced on Twitter.
The suit states three complaints to Twitter were made, but the tech giant did nothing until a federal law enforcement officer got involved.
Twitter responded: “Thanks for reaching out. We’ve reviewed the content, and didn’t find a violation of our policies, so no action will be taken at this time.”
The company then recommended reviewing the possibility of a “copyright infringement.”
The teen told the company: “What do you mean you don’t see a problem? We both are minors right now and were minors at the time these videos were taken. We both were 13 years of age. We were baited, harassed, and threatened to take these videos that are now being posted without our permission. We did not authorize these videos AT ALL and they need to be taken down.”
The Post said Twitter declined comment.
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