Photo: Digital Trends.

In Nebraska, United States, a 17-year-old girl and her mother were indicted on charges including performing an illegal abortion and hiding a body, after police accessed their Facebook chat,

.

Court records show police began investigating 17-year-old Celeste Burgess and her mother Jessica Burgess after receiving a tip that they had illegally buried a dead child she had given birth to prematurely.

The two women told Detective Ben McBride of the Norfolk, Nebraska Division of Police that they had discussed the matter on Facebook Messenger, prompting the state to issue a search warrant to Meta and access chat history and data.

The state of Nebraska prohibits abortions 20 weeks after fertilization unless the life of the mother is in danger.

Digital privacy advocates object that it is a violation of information and rights that have been violated after the repeal of Roe vs.

Wade.

The managing director of the nonprofit organization Fight for our Future, Caitlin Seeley George, said in a statement that since the repeal of that legal precedent, “Facebook parent company Meta and other big tech companies have made big promises. on the defense of access to reproductive health”.

“At the same time, the hypocritical surveillance practices of these companies make them complicit in the criminalization of people who seek, facilitate and provide abortions,” he added.

Meta communications director Andy Stone argued on Twitter that “the warrants referred to charges related to a criminal investigation and court documents indicate that police at the time were investigating the case of a dead baby that was burned and buried, not a decision to abort.”

The parent executive also said that “both orders were originally accompanied by non-disclosure orders, which prevented us from sharing any information about them.

The orders have now been lifted.”

(With information from Digital Trends)