Facebook creates a scandal by forwarding the messages between a mother and her 17-year-old daughter about an illegal abortion to the Nebraska police. The social network has received a warrant as part of an investigation into an illegal abortion and a concealment of a corpse. Remember that in Nebraska, abortions are strictly prohibited 20 weeks after fertilization unless the life of the mother is in danger. And the teenager was 24 weeks pregnant.
The mother helped her daughter abort and the two then burned and buried the fetus. This outrageous case came more than eight weeks after Roe v. Wade was overturned. And now abortion rights activists are challenging the privacy of user data on Meta’s platform.
Facebook justified itself in a press release
Faced with criticism, Facebook issued a statement and explained that it has received warrants for charges related to a criminal investigation. He adds that according to court and police records, the police began their investigation into Celeste Burgess, the teenager, and Jessica Burgess, her mother, after receiving a warning on the latter about a stillborn baby who had been burned and buried and no, on the subject of abortion. In other words, Facebook maintains that it did not betray users.
Separately, during the deposition, the two women told Detective Ben McBride of the Norfolk, Nebraska, police division that they discussed the matter on Facebook Messenger. Which resulted in the state issuing Meta a search warrant for their chat history and data with login timestamps and photos.
Abortion Rights Advocates Say Meta Doesn’t Respect User Privacy
Meta complied with the request by giving the police the Messenger chat history between Celeste and Jessica. These were about the use of drugs for home abortion. The police used this history to charge the two women with several crimes.
Abortion rights and digital privacy advocates argue that this case shows the dangers of pervasive digital surveillance. They even urge all women to delete their account now.
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