New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a lawsuit against Snap Inc. (Snap) on Thursday, accusing the company’s social media service Snapchat, of failing to protect minors from sexual exploitation and addictive design features.

Torrez claimed in the complaint that Snapchat is “a breeding ground for predators,” stating:

Snap and Snapchat … are among the most pernicious purveyors of child sexual abuse material (“CSAM”) and harm-inducing features on children’s electronic devices. Nearly every aspect of the service was designed to attract and addict young people. Moreover, Snap’s design and algorithmic recommendations openly foster and promote illicit sexual material involving children and facilitate sextortion and the trafficking of children, drugs, and guns.

Torrez addressed specific concerns about certain design features and policy choices of the platform, alleging that Snap’s systems fail to accurately verify users’ real ages. He claimed the platform lacked effective parental controls for monitoring and reporting activity. Torrez further accused Snap of creating “algorithms and features that connect child sex predators to children.”

The complaint also alleged that Snap knowingly misled the public about the platform’s safety and design features, which “renders Snap’s conduct unfair, deceptive and unconscionable.” New Mexico specifically claimed that Snap knew of the issue of the issue of “sextortion” on Snapchat but failed to warn its minor users and their parents or guardians. Torrez further stated:

Snap has misled users into believing that photos and videos sent on their platform will disappear, but predators can permanently capture this content and they have created a virtual yearbook of child sexual images that are traded, sold, and stored indefinitely.

Citing the state’s Unfair Practices Act, Torrez asked the First Judicial District Court of New Mexico to “abate the public nuisance Snap has created,” claiming the company “has sacrificed the health and safety of a generation of children … in service of screen time and ad revenue.”

In response to the lawsuit, Snap released a public statement on Thursday, acknowledging the concerns raised by Torrez. The company also expressed its commitment to making Snapchat “a safe and positive place … particularly for [its] younger users.”

New Mexico previously filed a lawsuit against major media company Meta last year, asserting that the company’s social media platforms have enabled child sexual exploitation. Meta, which owns multiple platforms including Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, filed a motion to dismiss the case, but a judge denied the motion in May.

Multiple states across the US have filed lawsuits against major social media companies in recent years. Critics have consistently claimed the platforms were designed to attract and addict children, have exacerbated mental health issues and have created environments that leave minors vulnerable to exploitation.

Countries around the world have also introduced legislation that regulates social media platforms in attempt to protect children’s safety. France approved legislation last year that required social media platforms to implement mandatory age verification systems and obtain explicit parental consent for users aged 15 and below. Last month, the US Department of Justice sued social media platform TikTok and its parent company ByteDance for allegedly violating children’s privacy laws.