By India McCarty
The National Center on Sexual Exploitation has named Mark Zuckerberg as one of the most significant offenders on this year’s Dirty Dozen list.
“Mark Zuckerberg is a major contributor to sexual exploitation online, through his leadership at Meta. That’s why he is named personally to the Dirty Dozen List,” Haley McNamara, Executive Director and Chief Strategy Officer at NCOSE, said in a statement. “Under his leadership, Meta has consistently prioritized growth and profit over the safety of children. Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and WhatsApp have become breeding grounds for child sexual abuse, grooming, sextortion, and sex trafficking. Responsibility lands on his desk.”
She continued, “When AI promotes child sexual abuse or sexual violence, when social media executives knowingly allow predators to reach children, when digital platforms enable image-based sexual abuse to flourish, it is time for them to be called out and exposed for the harm they are perpetuating. It’s a wake-up call for those named that the time for half-measures is over. They must take urgent action to stop contributing to rampant sexual abuse and exploitation.”
Related: Who Will Be on NCOSE’s 2026 Dirty Dozen List?
NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen list is an annual report that calls out some of the most significant offenders for facilitating, enabling and sometimes profiting from sexual abuse and exploitation of others.
In addition to Zuckerberg, the list includes Amazon, Android, Apple, Google Chromebooks, Discord, Grok, Snapchat, Steam, Telegram, TikTok and X (formerly known as Twitter).
It’s not surprising Zuckerberg was named by NCOSE. The Meta CEO was recently in the news after his company was ordered to pay $375 million in civil penalties after they were found liable for misleading consumers about their platforms’ safety.
“The jury’s verdict is a historic victory for every child and family who has paid the price for Meta’s choice to put profits over kids’ safety,” New Mexico’s attorney general, Raúl Torrez, said. “Meta executives knew their products harmed children, disregarded warnings from their own employees, and lied to the public about what they knew. Today the jury joined families, educators, and child safety experts in saying enough is enough.”
A spokesperson for Meta responded, saying, “We respectfully disagree with the verdict and will appeal. We work hard to keep people safe on our platforms and are clear about the challenges of identifying and removing bad actors or harmful content. We will continue to defend ourselves vigorously, and we remain confident in our record of protecting teens online.”
NCOSE’s Dirty Dozen list is a great way for parents to stay aware of which platforms they need to be on guard against.
Read Next: Meta Found Guilty for Failing to Prevent Child Sexual Exploitation
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