Facebook Gave Nebraska Police Data to Prosecute Teenager in Abortion Case
Facebook has turned over to Nebraska police the private messages between a mother and daughter as part of criminal abortion investigation.
The case involves 41-year-old Jessica Burgess, who allegedly helped her 17-year-old daughter Celeste carry out an abortion, which is illegal in Nebraska 20 weeks after the egg is fertilized.
Police in Norfolk, Nebraska, launched an investigation in April on a tip that Celeste had miscarried, and that her mother had buried the fetus, according(Opens in a new window) to the Lincoln Journal Star.
Court documents filed(Opens in a new window) last month show that police used a search warrant in June to subpoena Facebook’s parent Meta for private messages between the mother and daughter — and that the social media company complied.
The subpoenaed data includes correspondence between the two over Facebook Messenger, which allegedly show the daughter took pills meant to induce the miscarriage. In the messages, Celeste also tells her mother at one point: “Remember we burn the evidence.”
The case is underscoring how tech companies could aid state prosecutors in going after women seeking abortions after the US Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade. Since the ruling, Democratic lawmakers and advocacy groups, in particular, have called for stronger privacy protections on people’s personal data. Abortion is currently banned(Opens in a new window) in at least nine US states.
Meta did not immediately respond to a request for comment. But Facebook Messenger does offer an end-to-end encryption option, although it has to be activated(Opens in a new window) via the Secret Conversation feature. Meta’s WhatsApp has end-to-end encryption activated by default.
According(Opens in a new window) to NBC
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