The state of New Mexico filed a lawsuit contending that Meta, the company that manages Facebook and Instagram, exposes children to sexual abuse and trafficking.

The office of New Mexico Democratic Attorney General Raúl Torrez conducted an investigation during which officials made decoy accounts of children aged fourteen or younger. They learned that the social media platforms will show children sexually explicit images even when they “express no interest” in such content, will enable adults to find children and press them into sharing sexually explicit pictures of themselves, and will allow Facebook and Instagram users to find, share, and sell an “enormous volume” of child pornography.

“Our investigation into Meta’s social media platforms demonstrates that they are not safe spaces for children but rather prime locations for predators to trade child pornography and solicit minors for sex,” Torrez said in a statement about the investigation. “Meta executives are aware of the serious harm their products can pose to young users, and yet they have failed to make sufficient changes to their platforms that would prevent the sexual exploitation of children.”

The lawsuit contends that Facebook and Instagram are a “breeding ground” in which predators can target children for sexual abuse of various types. The investigation also found that Meta would allow a fictitious mother to offer her thirteen-year-old daughter “for sale to sex traffickers and to create a professional page to allow her daughter to share revenue from advertising.”

Officials determined that child exploitation content is “over ten times more prevalent” on Facebook and Instagram relative to major pornography websites. The lawsuit also names Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg for his own “actions, inactions, statements, and omissions.”

“Meta should be held accountable for the harms it has inflicted on New Mexico’s children and be required to make its platforms as safe for children as the law requires,” the lawsuit said.

The lawsuit against Meta comes months after another bombshell investigation found that Instagram allowed users to search for sexually exploitative material involving children, enabling users to access a “vast pedophile network.” Through hashtags suggested by the algorithm, users could find videos of children harming themselves as well as committing bestiality.