New Mexico Attorney General Ra??l Torrez has filed an amended complaint in his lawsuit against Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, with new allegations that the tech giant misled companies about the placement of their ads. Torrez initially sued Meta in December 2023, claiming that the platforms are "breeding grounds" for child predators involved in human trafficking, grooming, and solicitation.

The amended complaint, filed on Tuesday night, accuses Meta of deceiving companies into believing that their ads would not be shown alongside sexually explicit or violent content. Torrez argues that Meta's claims of creating safe and positive experiences for advertisers are deceptive. He stated in an interview with NBC News that Meta will struggle to maintain the safety of brands due to its inability and unwillingness to police the content on its platforms.

The complaint includes emails and letters exchanged between Meta and two advertisers, Match Group and Walmart. Match Group, the owner of dating apps Tinder and Hinge, requested assurance from Meta that its ads would not appear alongside content targeting minors or graphic, sexually explicit, pornographic, or illegal posts. In response, Meta described its policies and efforts to remove "bad actors" from its platforms. However, Match Group discovered that its ads had appeared alongside videos of young girls, including one that showed a provocatively dressed girl caressing a motorcycle.

Match Group also informed Meta that its ads were displayed next to videos of women being murdered. The lawsuit states that these videos were from a Facebook account that had been reported twice but not taken down until the third report. Match Group CEO Bernard Kim reportedly reached out to Mark Zuckerberg directly to express his concerns, but Zuckerberg did not respond.

Walmart also raised concerns with Meta in early 2023 following news reports that Facebook had shown its ads next to inappropriate content. Despite Meta's assurances that the prevalence of illicit sexual content on its platforms was low, an investigation by The Wall Street Journal found that Walmart ads were displayed alongside a video of a woman exposing her crotch.

Attorney General Torrez believes that Meta is not willing to engage in the necessary work to make its platforms safe for children and conducive for business partners to advertise. In response to the allegations, a Meta spokesperson disputed the claims and stated that the company does not want such content on its platforms and that brands do not want their ads to appear next to it. The spokesperson emphasized that Meta invests billions in safety and security measures and reports quarterly on the prevalence of violating content, which remains low.

The lawsuit filed by Torrez alleges that Meta serves sexually explicit material to underage users, directs them to unmoderated Facebook groups facilitating commercial sex, and allows the distribution of child pornography on its platforms. Torrez's lawsuit against Meta and CEO Mark Zuckerberg is part of a wider effort to address online child sexual exploitation. Zuckerberg, along with the CEOs of other tech companies, is expected to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee on January 31 regarding this issue. The claims made by advertisers like Match Group and Walmart, as well as the potential impact on Meta's advertising business, further highlight the seriousness of the allegations against the tech giant.