Facebook Turned Over Chat Messages Between Mother And Daughter Now Charged Over Abortion

Facebook turned over the chats of a mother and her daughter to Nebraska police after they were served with a warrant as part of an investigation into an illegal abortion, court documents show.

The investigation, which was launched in April before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, is one of the few known instances of Facebook’s turning over information to help law enforcement officials pursue an abortion case.

Meta Provides Investigative Evidence

Under a Nebraska law enacted before Roe was overturned, abortion is illegal 20 weeks after an egg is fertilized.

According to McBride’s affidavit, Burgess had a miscarriage when she was around 23 weeks pregnant, soon after having taken abortion pills.

McBride then applied for and got a warrant in June for access to the digital lives of the mother and her daughter.

They confiscated six smartphones and seven laptops and compelled Facebook to turn over chats between them.

Norfolk police didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Meta Encroach User’s Privacy

Facebook stores most user information in plaintext on its servers, meaning the company can access it if it is compelled to do so with a warrant. The company routinely complies with law enforcement requests.

Meta said nothing in the valid warrants we received from local law enforcement in early June, before the Supreme Court decision, mentioned abortion.