Apple faces $1.2 billion lawsuit

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Apple is facing a $1.2 billion lawsuit filed in the US District Court in North California, alleging that the company failed to protect victims of child sexual abuse by discontinuing its planned detection feature for Child Sexual Abuse Material (CSAM). The case, filed on Saturday, was initiated by a 27-year-old woman who claims that Apple’s actions allowed images of her abuse to be widely shared.

According to a report in the New York Times, the 27-year-old stated that images of her abuse were stored on Apple’s iCloud platform by her abuser. She says that she and her mother frequently received notifications from law enforcement about individuals being charged with possessing the images of her abuse. “It was hard to believe there were so many out there. They were not stopping,” she told the publication.

The lawsuit seeks to hold Apple accountable for its decision and demands compensation for as many as 2,680 victims. Under US law, victims of child sexual abuse are entitled to a minimum of $150,000 in damages, which could bring Apple’s potential payout to over $1.2 billion if found liable.