CHARLESTON, W.Va. –West Virginia Attorney General JB McCuskey announced Thursday that he filed a lawsuit against Apple Inc., alleging the company knowingly allowed its iCloud platform to be used to distribute and store child sexual abuse material.
According to a release from the Attorney General’s office, the consumer protection complaint was filed in Mason County Circuit Court.
McCuskey said they are confident that the Mason County court system will be able to handle the case efficiently.
“We felt like the judge will have a great understanding of the sort of very intricate facts of this case and it’s a judge that we have great confidence in, so Mason County was a natural fit,” he said on MetroNews Midday Thursday.
The release also stated that the lawsuit revealed Apple, in its own internal communications, described itself as “the greatest platform for distributing child porn” while taking no action to stop it.
McCuskey said Apple will have to answer to that comment, and more, through the lawsuit.
“These were comments and facts that were in the public sphere, and Apple is going to have to answer for those here,” he said.
Under federal law, all U.S.-based technology companies are required to report detected CSAM to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children. The lawsuit alleges that Apple failed to do so and continued allowing such content without implementing industry-standard detection tools used by its peers.
The lawsuit states that in 2023, Apple made only 267 such reports, compared with Google, which filed 1.47 million, and Meta, which filed more than 30.6 million.
McCuskey said he brought forward the case because it is easier for state attorneys general to pursue such lawsuits.
“Some private plaintiffs have tried to bring this case, there’s a group called HEAT, which is a child advocacy group, that is dedicated to this specific problem, but the authority that is inherently granted for an attorney general gives us a unique ability to bring these cases in a way that other lawyers cannot,” he said.
His office stated they are seeking statutory and punitive damages, injunctive relief requiring Apple to implement effective CSAM detection measures, and equitable remedies mandating safer product design going forward.
McCuskey said action must be taken to stop these egregious acts.
“We have to put a stop to this idea that any of this is any way normal, rational, or okay because it’s not, it’s disgusting and anyone who is involved in this needs to be punished far more extensively than they are being now,” he said.
McCuskey expressed hope that other state attorneys general will join the lawsuit.
This lawsuit is the first of its kind brought by a government agency against Apple over CSAM distribution.
You can read the full lawsuit here.