• Trending: Hands-on with Google’s new Pixel 10a phone Tesla drops ‘Autopilot’ upsell in California Samsung Galaxy Unpacked 2026 is Feb. • 25 The best VPNs with free trials iPhone Fold: All the rumors so far The office of the Attorney General for West Virginiaannounced Thursdaythat it has filed alawsuitagainst Apple alleging that the company had “knowingly” allowed its iCloud platform “to be used as a vehicle for distributing and storing child sexual abuse material.” The state alleges this went on for years but drew no action from the tech giant “under the guise of user privacy.” In the lawsuit, the state repeatedly citesa textfrom Apple executive Eric Friedman, in which he calls iCloud “the greatest platform for distributing child porn” in a conversation with another Apple executive. • These messages were first uncovered byThe Vergein 2021 within discovery documents for the Epic Games v. • In the conversation, Friedman says while some other platforms prioritize safety over privacy, Apple’s priorities “are the inverse.” The state further alleges that detection technology to help root out and report CSAM exists, but that Apple chooses not to implement it. • Apple indeed consideredscanning iCloud Photos for CSAMin 2021, butabandoned these plansafter pushback stemming from privacy concerns. • In 2024 Apple wassuedby a group of over 2,500 victims of child sexual abuse, citing nearly identical claims and alleging that Apple’s failure to implement these features led to the victims’ harm as images of them circulated through the company’s servers.

Article Summaries:

  • West Virginia’s Attorney General filed a lawsuit against Apple, accusing the company of “knowingly” allowing its iCloud platform to be used for distributing and storing child sexual abuse material (CSAM). The state cites a 2021 internal message from Apple executive Eric Friedman that described iCloud as “the greatest platform for distributing child porn,” arguing that Apple prioritized user privacy over child‑safety. West Virginia alleges that Apple has detection technology capable of flagging CSAM but has chosen not to deploy it, despite having considered scanning iCloud Photos in 2021. The suit follows a 2024 civil action by more than 2,500 CSAM victims and seeks injunctive relief to compel Apple to implement effective CSAM‑detection measures, as well as damages.

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