The state of West Virginia has filed a consumer protection lawsuit against Apple, claiming the technology giant has failed to adequately prevent child sexual abuse materials from being stored and shared through its iOS devices and iCloud services.
CNBC reports that West Virginia Attorney General John “JB” McCuskey, a Republican, filed the lawsuit claiming that Apple has prioritized its privacy branding and business interests over child safety. The complaint contrasts Apple’s approach with that of other major technology companies, including Google, Microsoft, and Dropbox, which McCuskey argues have been more proactive in combating such material through systems like PhotoDNA.
PhotoDNA, a technology developed by Microsoft and Dartmouth College in 2009, uses hashing and matching techniques to automatically identify and block child sexual abuse material (CSAM) images that have already been identified and reported to authorities. This system has been adopted by multiple technology platforms as a standard tool in the fight against online exploitation of children.
Apple’s history with child pornography detection technology has been controversial. In 2021, the company tested its own CSAM detection features that could automatically find and remove images of child exploitation and report those uploaded to iCloud in the United States to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. However, Apple withdrew its plans for these features after facing significant backlash from privacy advocates who worried the technology could create a backdoor for government surveillance and potentially be modified to censor other types of content on iOS devices.
The company’s subsequent efforts have not satisfied a wide range of critics. In 2024, the UK-based National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children criticized Apple for failing to adequately monitor, tabulate, and report child sexual abuse material in its products to authorities. That same year, thousands of child sexual abuse survivors filed a lawsuit against Apple in California’s Northern District, alleging the company should never have abandoned its earlier plans for detection features and that by allowing such material to proliferate online, it had caused survivors to relive their trauma.
Apple has consistently positioned itself as the most privacy-conscious among major technology companies, a stance reinforced when CEO Tim Cook wrote an open letter on privacy in 2014. This commitment to user privacy has become a cornerstone of the company’s brand identity and marketing strategy.
If West Virginia’s lawsuit proves successful, it could compel Apple to make significant changes to its design or data security practices. The state is seeking both statutory and punitive damages, as well as injunctive relief that would require Apple to implement effective child sexual abuse material detection systems.
In response to the lawsuit, an Apple spokesperson provided CNBC with a statement emphasizing the company’s commitment to user safety. “Protecting the safety and privacy of our users, especially children, is central to what we do,” the spokesperson said. The company highlighted its parental controls and Communication Safety feature, which “automatically intervenes on kids’ devices when nudity is detected in Messages, shared Photos, AirDrop and even live FaceTime calls,” as evidence of its dedication to providing safety, security, and privacy to users.
The spokesperson added, “We are innovating every day to combat ever-evolving threats and maintain the safest, most trusted platform for kids.”
Read more at CNBC here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
Read the full article here