The Sting That Exposed How Meta Endangers Kids

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 and his team how they took on Mark Zuckerberg, and what this victory, along with a second decision still to come, could mean for the future of social media.

Question Everything is a production of KCRW and Placement Theory. Follow us on Instagram: @questioneverything.podcast. And don’t forget to sign up for our newsletter.

Guests:

New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez

Please support the organizations that support this show:

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(79)

A Gen Z Reporter Questions Jonathan Haidt, author of ‘The Anxious Generation’

Over the past few months, we’ve been closely covering the major lawsuits against Meta over the ways its apps have hurt young people. This week, we’re sharing a special episode of "Left To Their Own D...

20 Elo 1h 4min

Judge Compares Meta to a Factory Emitting ‘Noxious Pollution’ in a Landmark Ruling

Just hours after we dropped last week’s episode on New Mexico’s landmark trial against Meta, Judge Bryan Biedsheid issued his ruling on what changes the company would have to make to Facebook and Inst...

13 Elo 37min

We Went to the Trial That Could Force Meta to Change its Ways

Back in 2023, New Mexico Attorney General Raúl Torrez filed a historic lawsuit against Meta, arguing that the tech giant has enabled the exploitation of children on its apps for years. This year, tha...

6 Elo 51min

Is A Billionaire Bromance Capturing Our Media?

Wall Street Journal reporter Emily Glazer investigates the rich and powerful, and recently, she got a tip that she couldn’t get out of her head: sources told her that Donald Trump and billionaire Larr...

30 Heinä 34min

The Sunscreen Paradox

In June, disgraced former Florida Congressman turned right-wing One America News Network anchor Matt Gaetz peddled a novel and dangerous conspiracy to his audience: that using sunscreen causes skin ca...

16 Heinä 22min

Ashley St. Clair is Fighting X – And Tried To Stop This Episode

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 "I Was 11 When Instagram Took Over My Life", "The Talented Ms. Goldie...

25 Kesä 1h 11min

How a Tiny Newsroom Helped Bring Down Hungary’s Authoritarian Leader

Viktor Orbán’s authoritarian grip on Hungary became a model for the American right. He hollowed out the country’s democracy and turned much of the media into a government megaphone. Then a small newsr...

11 Kesä 47min