Twitter allegedly refused to take down sexual exploitation videos of Lisa Haba's client even after her client showed Twitter the evidence that he is a minor and that Twitter was profiting off the client's exploitation. Haba is a partner of Haba Law Firm based in Florida.
Sex Abuse Lawsuit Against Twitter
The Matiasic Firm, Haba Law Firm, and the National Center on Sexual Exploitation Law Center filed a federal lawsuit against the microblogging platform on January 20, 2021.
On behalf of a young John Doe, the lawsuit explained how the plaintiff and his parents appealed multiple times for the social media platform to take down proof of his abuse.
According to NCOSE, "At age 16, Plaintiff John Doe was horrified to find out sexually graphic videos of himself-made at age 13 under duress by sex trafficker-had been posted to Twitter. Both John Doe and his mother, Jane Doe, contacted the authorities and Twitter.
Using Twitter's reporting system, which according to its policies is designed to catch and stop illegal material like child sexual abuse material (CSAM) from being distributed, the Doe family verified that John Doe was a minor and the videos needed to be taken down immediately," reported The Daily Citizen.
The lawsuit comes from a minor who alleged Twitter refused to remove child sex abuse that featured him and another 13-year-old. According to the lawsuit, Twitter reviewed the graphic content and did not find a contravening of their policies, reported Blaze Media.
The lawsuit also stated the social media platform used child pornography to monetize it and declined to take it down until the Department of Homeland Security became involved.
The company allegedly told the complainants in January 2020, "If you believe there's a potential copyright infringement, please start a new report," reported Mediaite.
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The exploitative video was reportedly retweeted thousands of times and garnered at least 167,000 views on the platform.
The federal lawsuit alleged that the minor, John Doe, and his mother contacted Twitter multiple times regarding the content. The social media giant allegedly did not suspend accounts disseminating it until a federal agent from the DHS intervened.
According to the teenager, "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 filing indicated one or multiple traffickers tricked the adolescent into providing explicit photos to a Snapchat account he was led to think belonged to a 16-year-old girl.
Doe is now 17 and lives in Florida. He was between 13 and 14 years old when sex traffickers allegedly posed as the 16-year-old female classmate who chatted with him on Snapchat.
The lawsuit further indicated Doe, and the traffickers reportedly exchanged nude photos before the conversation became blackmail: If Doe did not share more sexually graphic photos and videos, the explicit material he had already sent would be shared with his parents, pastor, and coach.
