Enchantment State News

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez Announces Arrests of Suspected Online Predators Following “Operation MetaPhile”

Albuquerque, NM – Today, Attorney General Raúl Torrez announced the arrests and arraignment of three suspected online predators following “Operation MetaPhile,” a months-long undercover investigation of child predators operating through Meta’s platforms. The suspects contacted and solicited sex with underage decoy accounts created by the New Mexico Department of Justice. “I’m proud of the undercover investigators in our office who worked meticulously to arrest three suspected child predators who used Meta’s platforms to find and victimize children,” said Attorney General Torrez. “The decoy accounts with which these suspects engaged mirror the experience children can and are having on these platforms. Operation MetaPhile uncovered how older men seek out these minors and solicit conversations that quickly turn into graphic, sexual conversations with children they know are underage. “This operation conclusively demonstrates that using Meta’s social media platforms not only endangers children in the virtual world but, more importantly, they are spaces that sexual predators actively use to hunt, groom and victimize children in the real world. Rest assured that our agents and prosecutors will continue to use every available resource to apprehend and prosecute these monsters in our midst, but ultimately only Mark Zuckerberg and his executive team have the power to make these products safe to use.”

In December, the New Mexico Department of Justice filed a historic lawsuit against Meta, Mark Zuckerberg, and the company’s wholly-owned subsidiaries — including Instagram and Facebook — concerning the protection of children from sexual abuse and human trafficking. The New Mexico DOJ’s complaint details how Meta’s platforms, through their lax policies and recommendation algorithms, enable child predators and traffickers to hunt for, solicit, and sell sex or sexual images with children at an unprecedented scale. Operation MetaPhile resulted in the arrests of the following suspected child predators: The New Mexico Department of Justice’s lawsuit against Meta and Mark Zuckerberg is ongoing. In that litigation, the Department has already uncovered internal documents in which Meta employees estimate approximately 100,000 children every day are subjected to sexual harassment on Meta’s platforms, such as pictures of adult genitalia. In another document, a Meta executive warns the head of Instagram that Meta’s platforms are “basically massive ‘victim discovery services.’”

Parents and children who have grappled with sexual exploitation enabled by social media platforms, as well as those who have experienced addiction, depression, eating disorders or other self-harm or mental health issues because of their use of social media, are encouraged to share their experiences with the New Mexico Department of Justice. Resources for getting help can be found here. Operation MetaPhile Slide Deck Defendant Profiles. . .