The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids

The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids

July 9, 2026 · 49 min

About this episode

The episode discusses a New Mexico investigation that exposed how Meta's platforms endanger children, leading to a lawsuit against the company.

If you're new to our show and liked this episode, let us suggest a couple of our other recent stories you might enjoy -- check out "How Meta Is Making Billions from Scam Advertising" , "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life",   "The Talented Ms. Goldiee" and " Why Did ICE Lock Up This Pro-Trump Reporter?" In a windowless room in Albuquerque, a small team of New Mexico investigators created a fake Facebook account for a 13-year-old girl to target a child predator. They made posts of her losing her last baby tooth and starting her first day of 7th grade. To their surprise, Facebook funnelled adults to the account by the thousands – men who began trying to groom, solicit, and sexually harass a person they believed was an underage girl. New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez says this was the moment when he realized “there is a very, very serious problem inside of this company and on these platforms.” He launched a lawsuit against Meta, which led to the first successful verdict for child safety against a social media company. Question Everything executive producer Robyn Semien visited New Mexico to attend parts of the trial and hear from AG Torrez…

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