Last month, Marvin Lee Mutch, a convicted child murderer who was charged with drowning 13-year-old Cassie Riley in 1974, was arrested for possessing child sex abuse material, an illegally owned firearm, ammunition, and a controlled substance. After 40 years in San Quentin Prison, Mutch was released in 2016, thanks to the efforts of an organization called the Innocence Project. This isn’t the first time the group has argued for the release of a criminal who has gone on to harm new victims.
Consider Robert Roberson, a Texas death row inmate whose 2024 case flooded headlines. Described by the Innocence Project as a “child-like” autistic father, Roberson gained the sympathies of many prominent figures on both sides of the political aisle. Days before Roberson’s set execution date of October 17, 2024, CNN’s Jake Tapper conducted a sympathetic interview with the detective who worked on Roberson’s case, who called for Roberson to be spared the death penalty. Dr. Phil, RFK Jr., and Bret Weinstein, conservative allies whom I believe to be well meaning, also defended Roberson and called for a stay of his execution. The Innocence Project led the charge on Roberson’s behalf, persuading the public and Texas lawmakers that a grieving, autistic father had been wrongly blamed for the 2002 murder of his two-year-old daughter, Nikki. The group claimed Roberson’s conviction was based on “debunked” Shaken Baby Syndrome and an accidental bed fall. Who can blame one for rushing to Roberson’s defense when presented with this story? It tugs on the heartstrings and demands justice. However, to maintain this narrative that captivated so many well-meaning people, the Innocence Project left out the damning details that actually led to Roberson’s conviction.
Nikki, just 2 years old, died in Roberson’s care. According to the testimonies delivered during Roberson’s trial, Nikki’s injuries were consistent with brutal abuse. ER Nurse Andrea Sims testified Nikki had a handprint on her face, a “mushy” skull, and her entire brain shifted from trauma. Dr. John Ross, the pediatrician who examined Nikki, testified that he ruled out a fall, insisting the trauma had to have been caused intentionally. Nurse Kelly Gurganus described Nikki’s blue skin, unlike anything she’d seen, even in drownings. Dr. Thomas Konjoyan, the ER physician who examined Nikki, confirmed her brain was pushed to death by uncal herniation — an injury no bed fall could cause. 
It gets worse. Nurse Sims found three anal tears and abnormal rectal laxity, signs of sexual assault. Roberson confessed to a cellmate he put his penis in Nikki’s mouth and rubbed it on her. His ex, Della Gray, testified he abused her children, leaving bruises and a hickey on one. His own mother warned he’d kill Nikki. With 17 arrests, including felonies, Roberson is no victim. Yet the Innocence Project paints him as a misunderstood Forrest Gump.
Now, Roberson’s fate hangs in the balance as he awaits his new execution date. Attorney General Ken Paxton has signaled that he’ll continue seeking justice for Nikki. Will Texas legislators join him in this fight, or will they cave to IP’s anti-justice demands?
So why would the Innocence Project defend such a man? The Innocence Project, founded in 1992 by O.J. Simpson’s lawyers Barry Scheck and Peter Neufeld, is a radical left-wing organization that uses these kinds of misleading cases of supposed wrongful convictions to erode public confidence in capital punishment. They freed O.J. despite blood evidence and use the same tactics to pursue their ultimate goal of abolishing the death penalty at all costs. And it seems to be working: since 1992, public support for the death penalty has dropped from 80% to 53%, fueled by their sob stories about “wrongly” convicted killers like Roberson. They erode trust in our courts, claiming a “broken system” while ignoring victims like Nikki.
Their leadership exposes their bias. Executive Director Christina Swarns, a former NAACP lawyer, saved cop-killer Mumia Abu-Jamal, whose guilt is undeniable. Board member Alondra Nelson praises Black Panthers and pushes DNA testing for slave reparations. Yusef Salaam, of Central Park Five fame, campaigned for Kamala Harris. Cedric Alexander, an Obama advisor, demonizes January 6 protesters. Ekow Yankah wrote he won’t let his children befriend white people. Bankrolled by George Soros’s Open Society, Mackenzie Scott, and even taxpayer dollars through the U.S. Bureau of Justice Assistance, they’re activists, not impartial advocates.
Conservatives should view The Innocence Project like BLM: a radical leftist group using toxic empathy to twist our compassion and godly desire for justice, just to push a dangerous agenda.
* * *
Allie Beth Stuckey is a conservative commentator, host of the podcast “Relatable,” and New York Times bestselling author of “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Toxic-Empathy-Progressives-Christian-Compassion/dp/0593541944/ref=sr_1_1?crid=UANYF7F4G527&amp;dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.SR4Z9YTZBiD-LIyJWIe2NqrPQSJrs7v_SeJwqdKhprgz4bRzXt9yi_yz87GrsiKreKNDkh5cktyvWqnwYqCvq-AAWTJyW9idmKxIIFSxmJU.Q-uGoH9skFCMDxfjq4I70mRhShGY4nULiXDRrFrj1Nw&amp;dib_tag=se&amp;keywords=Toxic+Empathy%3A+How+Progressives&amp;qid=1749579102&amp;sprefix=toxic+empathy+how+progressives%2Caps%2C55&amp;sr=8-1">Toxic Empathy: How Progressives Exploit Christian Compassion</a>&#8220;
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>

Governor Gavin Newsom Announces He Will Sign Moratorium On Executions In California

The Innocence Project’s Toxic Empathy Betrays Victims Like Cassie Riley

Child Abuse

Children

Innocence Project

Leftists

Opinion

Prison

Gender ideology’s war on America’s children has turned its guns on a particularly vulnerable group: children in foster care. Despite a court ruling <a href="https://www.texastribune.org/2024/09/25/paxton-biden-lgbtq-foster-youth/">blocking</a> a Biden-era rule that imposed gender ideology as a condition of serving children who identify as LGBTQ, several states now <a href="https://lambdalegal.org/child-welfare-map/">demand</a> that prospective foster parents affirm the &#8220;gender identity&#8221; of hypothetical children they might foster one day. Vermont has taken this egregious stance even further, telling one Christian family that they presented too much of a risk, that they would raise children sharing their beliefs.
Decenda and Frank Cram were “blindsided” when Vermont state officials denied their application to become foster parents because of their “belief system.” State officials added that “if children in their home are raised with the same beliefs it could perpetuate further discrimination of the LGBTQ community.”
Two other Christian families – the Wuotis and the Gannts – also failed Vermont’s ideological litmus test and so were denied the chance to foster. Represented by <a href="https://adflegal.org/">Alliance Defending Freedom</a>, they are <a href="https://adflegal.org/article/vermont-imposes-gender-ideology-litmus-test-foster-parents/">pushing back</a>. Their case is currently under review by a three-judge panel of the Second Circuit court of appeals. The Crams shared their experience as friends of the court in support of the families.
Decenda Cram, like many foster parents, was a foster child herself, entering care when she was only six years old. Her first foster parents were devout Christians and eventually adopted her. “I think ever since then,” she says, “I just thought someday I wanted to give back &#8230; I definitely wanted to return the favor in some way.”
Frank credits Christian neighbors for helping him turn around his own life. “If it wasn&#8217;t for a Christian family back when I was out in Arizona, I probably would&#8217;ve been getting in more and more trouble,” he explains.
The Crams, both devout Christians, hoped, in Frank’s words, to offer needy children “a home, unconditional love, understanding – the whole nine yards.” In October 2020 the couple applied to be foster parents. Decenda recalls that “we made it clear that we were Christians, and we asked if that was going to pose a problem with foster parenting. And we were reassured by a higher up in the state’s Department of Children and Family Services (DCF): ‘We don&#8217;t discriminate against anyone for any reason.’”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/gift/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=wisepops&amp;utm_campaign=dad&amp;utm_content=fathersdaygiftpopups">Gift Dad an All Access Membership. Use code DAD40 at checkout to save 40%!</a>
Although they had not completed the licensing process, Decenda and Frank were called to take in a pair of sibling girls, ages nine and fourteen, in December 2020. The girls stayed with the Crams for a month and a half before one of the girls’ relatives assumed custody. We “worked out very well as a team in taking care of them,” says Frank. Decenda agrees, adding that “Frank and I worked beautifully as a parenting team.” Their initial DCF worker and the relative that the girls moved in with when they left us “all commended us for doing such a good job with the girls.”
<div id="attachment_931921" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-931921" class="size-large wp-image-931921" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1024x576.jpg" alt="Nicholas Klein. Getty Images." width="1024" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-300x168.jpg 300w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-768x431.jpg 768w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-1536x863.jpg 1536w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GettyImages-1488646082-2048x1150.jpg 2048w" sizes="(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Nicholas Klein. Getty Images.</div>
Given their success caring for the two sisters, the Crams thought they would be licensed as foster parents. They were surprised when the licensing process turned hostile.
Decenda recalls a different official telling her during a phone interview that “Vermont has recently taken a stance.” This “stance” is that no foster families can be considered unless they are willing to fully embrace the LGBTQ community. Despite the clear desire and ability to provide a safe, loving home for children in need, the Crams were denied a license to foster.
According to the denial letter sent to the Crams in June 2021, the Cram’s “fundamental belief&#8221; about &#8220;God&#8217;s plan for all of us,” would “not meet the emotional or developmental needs of children.”
“It felt like I&#8217;d lost a child,” laments Decenda. Frank says that “It really broke my heart. It&#8217;s like, here we are. We&#8217;re willing to give our home and our time and effort to help these children.”
Vermont’s behavior is inexcusable: its exclusion of prospective foster and adoptive parents based on their sincerely held religious beliefs is blatant religious discrimination and adds to the injury already suffered by children in need.
The Crams are hopeful that the Second Circuit will order Vermont to stop its discriminatory policy so they can open up their home to children in need. As Frank says, “all things can work out by God&#8217;s grace.”
* * *
Andrea Picciotti-Bayer is Director of <a href="https://conscience-project.org/">The Conscience Project</a> 
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Paper foster care family

Christians Need Not Apply To Foster In This State

Alliance Defending Freedom (ADF)

Christians

Foster Care

gender ideology

LGBTQ

Vermont

It wasn&#8217;t so long ago that the absolute worst thing the government could do to a child — according to pretty much every expert, NGO and media mouthpiece on the planet — was to put that child in a &#8220;cage.&#8221; That was, as you probably remember, a major line of attack during the first Trump administration. The consensus was that Donald Trump was so evil and so unhinged that, simply for his own personal amusement, he instructed immigration officials to incarcerate children in the worst conditions imaginable, like they were animals. Things were so bad that AOC wept outside of an empty parking lot near an immigrant detention facility. Lin Manuel Miranda sang a lullaby for the Mexican children. Oprah, Rihanna, John Legend, George Clooney — the luminaries of our time — came together to formally condemn the Trump administration.
In response, conservatives made the case that children weren&#8217;t actually being placed in &#8220;cages&#8221; of any kind. They also pointed out that the alleged &#8220;cages&#8221; predated the Trump administration. And that was all true. 
The strongest argument, however, was actually pretty simple. Democrats couldn&#8217;t answer the following question: How exactly would a Democrat-run administration handle tens of thousands of children who are apprehended attempting to enter this country illegally at the border? If they weren&#8217;t going to deport the children, or use Obama&#8217;s &#8220;cages,&#8221; then what exactly would they do? What&#8217;s the alternative? We all knew that Biden couldn&#8217;t use the cages, because now Democrats are saying cages are evil. So what would Biden&#8217;s administration ultimately do?
As it turns out, a big part of their solution was to place unaccompanied minors inside the homes of people they called &#8220;sponsors.&#8221; So if a minor attempted to enter this country alone, or if their father was being prosecuted for a serious crime, the Biden administration would try to find someone for these minors to live with, inside of this country. They wouldn&#8217;t simply deport the children. They also wouldn&#8217;t put them in a secure government facility or a &#8220;cage.&#8221; Instead, they&#8217;d house them with an adult.
Of course, the &#8220;perverse incentives&#8221; in this situation are off the charts. The Biden administration was effectively encouraging children to cross the border without a legal guardian, because then they&#8217;d be allowed into the country instead of being deported with their families. And predictably, foreigners caught on to this situation. The number of unaccompanied minors attempting to enter this country increased by more than 100% under Biden, to more than 130,000 children per year. But it was all necessary, the Biden administration said, to avoid placing children in cages. Instead, they&#8217;d all be going to &#8220;sponsors.&#8221;
<h3><a href="https://www.dailywire.com/episode/mws-ep-1609?elementPosition=6&amp;row=2&amp;rowHeadline=Latest+Episodes&amp;rowType=Horizontal+Show+Episodes+Carousel" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WATCH: The Matt Walsh Show</a></h3>
A year ago, the HHS secretary at the time was asked about this program. And he conceded that, once children were handed off to sponsors, the Biden administration had no idea what happened to them. They completely lost track of these children. And they knew this would happen, because they understood that they didn&#8217;t have any legal authority to follow-up on the whereabouts of the children. It&#8217;s almost as if they intentionally pawned these children off as quickly as they possibly could, to make them go away. They said this was supposedly the more &#8220;humane&#8221; approach. Watch:
<iframe loading="lazy" title="&#039;This Is Disturbing&#039;: Eric Burlison Blasts Sec. Becerra Over &#039;Missing&#039; Unaccompanied Minors" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/GdPHHxiJRS4?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
It&#8217;s not exactly the most reassuring testimony. He&#8217;s admitting that the federal government has handed off tens of thousands of children to adults who, in many cases, are not even related to them. And then he&#8217;s acknowledging that the government has no idea what happened next. That&#8217;s because the HHS, which is overseeing this whole program, isn&#8217;t a law enforcement agency. They have no power whatsoever. They&#8217;re not remotely capable — legally or practically — of figuring out what actually happened to these children that the government relocated. 
And on top of that, Kamala Harris and other Democrats made sure to block HHS from informing local schools about the children. In other words, because of the deliberate policy choices of the Democrat Party, there was no way for anyone, even school districts, to verify that the children were attending school. Teachers couldn&#8217;t check up on them. So what were all of the kids doing? What was happening to them?
Thanks to new reporting from the group &#8220;Illegal Alien Crimes,&#8221; as well as The Daily Wire&#8217;s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/author/luke-rosiak">Luke Rosiak</a>, we now have some more clarity on this question. And the answer is far more horrifying than any &#8220;cage&#8221; could possibly be. It turns out that, in effect, the Biden administration launched a human trafficking operation. That was their solution to &#8220;kids in cages.&#8221; Instead, now we have &#8220;kids being forced to live with sexual abusers.&#8221;
The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/teen-molested-by-illegal-alien-who-biden-admin-sent-her-to-live-with-police-say">reports</a>: 
<blockquote>A 37-year-old illegal immigrant man was arrested for allegedly sexually abusing at least one teen girl who the federal government sent to live with him as part of the Biden administration’s scheme to place &#8216;unaccompanied alien children&#8217; in the homes of unrelated, loosely-vetted &#8216;sponsors.&#8217; &#8230;Wilson Manfredo Lopez-Carillo was arrested by the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s office in Florida on May 22 and charged with three counts of sexual assault on a minor.</blockquote>
This is the level of &#8220;vetting&#8221; that HHS conducted during the Biden administration, to make sure that the &#8220;sponsors&#8221; had the best interests of the children in mind. Of course, there wasn&#8217;t any way to vet this guy, or check his record or anything like that, because he was *also* an illegal alien. In other words, yes, the Biden administration housed a 16-year-old girl with a 37-year-old illegal alien, who had already broken our laws to enter this country. They put her with a known criminal who they could not vet in any meaningful way.
If you pull up the probable cause affidavit, you&#8217;ll find that these alleged sexual assaults took place in February of last year. The victim arrived in this country in August of 2023. So within about six months, she was attacked several times in the &#8220;home&#8221; that the Biden administration set her up with.
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-full wp-image-930067 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FEXgAAaYR_.png" alt="" width="725" height="509" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FEXgAAaYR_.png 725w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FEXgAAaYR_-300x211.png 300w" sizes="(max-width: 725px) 100vw, 725px" /></div>
<div class="image"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-large wp-image-930069 aligncenter" src="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FXWUAA6Phi-493x576.png" alt="" width="493" height="576" srcset="https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FXWUAA6Phi-493x576.png 493w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FXWUAA6Phi-257x300.png 257w, https://dw-wp-production.imgix.net/2025/06/GsOL1FXWUAA6Phi.png 711w" sizes="(max-width: 493px) 100vw, 493px" /></div>
The other thing you&#8217;ll notice, as you look at this probable cause statement, is that at least a third of the document is redacted. There&#8217;s a lot of information that&#8217;s not being disclosed here. To be sure, there are probably legitimate reasons for these redactions in some cases. We&#8217;re talking about a very sensitive case involving a minor, after all. But it&#8217;s enough to make you wonder whether we&#8217;ll ever receive anything approaching a full accounting for what the Biden administration has done here. 
What we know for sure is that the scale of this particular human trafficking operation is staggering. Late last year, the DHS inspector general under the Biden administration disclosed that something like 300,000 minors are unaccounted for. And even the minors who are &#8220;accounted for,&#8221; in some cases, are raising very obvious concerns. 
For example, the inspector general <a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2024-08/OIG-24-46-Aug24.pdf">pointed out</a> that: 
<blockquote>One ICE officer expressed concern with not being able to take action in a case involving an [unaccompanied minor] whose sponsor claimed the [unaccompanied minor] was in an inappropriate relationship with her husband.</blockquote>
In other words, the Biden administration placed this unaccompanied minor inside of a household, and then the husband start abusing the minor, causing the woman to complain to federal authorities. And in response, federal authorities did absolutely nothing. And this kind of thing happens a lot. 
From <a href="https://www.oig.dhs.gov/sites/default/files/assets/2024-08/OIG-24-46-Aug24.pdf">the report</a>: 
<blockquote>ICE E.R.O. [Enforcement and Removal Operations] has no authority over [unaccompanied children] beyond managing their immigration cases. Therefore, even if ICE were to identify [unaccompanied children] in unsafe conditions, the agency has limited authority to respond. ICE personnel at two field offices affirmed this and explained they had identified [unaccompanied children] in unsafe conditions but were unable to intervene.</blockquote>
Unfortunately the report doesn&#8217;t go into any more detail on that point. You&#8217;d think that, if illegal alien children were suspected of living in unsafe conditions, after the federal government placed them in a household full of other illegals, it would be pretty easy to kick the door down and investigate. But apparently, these children have just fallen through the cracks. No agency wants to assert jurisdiction. And of course, whenever anyone in Congress tried to press for answers, the Biden administration stonewalled, because in the end, all of this was deliberate.
Last November, for example, Louisiana senator Bill Cassidy tried to conduct an audit into the status of these unaccompanied children. <a href="https://dailycaller.com/2024/11/19/biden-obstructing-migrant-child-investigations/">From The Daily Caller</a>: 
<blockquote>HHS would repeatedly take months to respond to [Cassidy&#8217;s] requests — and sometimes the department would not respond at all. &#8230; HHS officials also stonewalled state investigators when Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis demanded answers. .. DeSantis — in response to findings that alien children smuggled into Florida were being sexually exploited or used for trafficking in drugs and weapons — petitioned the Florida Supreme Court to investigate criminal activity related to the smuggling of unaccompanied alien children from the U.S.-Mexico border into Florida. ..However, HHS allegedly &#8216;refused&#8217; to provide witnesses or documents to a grand jury, ignored subpoenas and &#8216;actively encouraged&#8217; Florida entities that contract with [federal immigration] officials to not cooperate with investigators.</blockquote>
Predictably, nearly a decade after the fake outrage over &#8220;kids in cages,&#8221; there has been no concern whatsoever from any political figure or media outlet on the Left about any of this. There&#8217;s no outrage about the fact that the Biden administration, fresh off the moral outrage over the &#8220;kids in cages,&#8221; constructed an elaborate human trafficking operation with a code of silence that rivals any mafia.
Keep that in mind, the next time you&#8217;re told that some policy you support is supposedly horrific or barbaric or racist or whatever. When people tell you that, ask them what the alternative is. And if they can&#8217;t answer, it&#8217;s a pretty good sign that, in their quest to score some political points, they&#8217;re willing to endorse evils beyond all comprehension. That&#8217;s the bargain Democrats made under Joe Biden. And now, locked away with &#8220;sponsors&#8221; who no one can track, there are tens of thousands of children who are suffering every day as a result.
If you needed another reason to support mass deportations, that&#8217;s a pretty big one. At the very least, deporting some of these sponsors would help break up one of the largest human trafficking rings ever created — the one the Biden administration spun up right here in the United States. In the end, the only sustainable solution is a secure border — one that&#8217;s ruthlessly enforced in a way that might make some liberal women uncomfortable. Unless we want tens of thousands more children to suffer untold horrors with their &#8220;sponsors,&#8221; we simply have no other choice.

TOPSHOT-US-LATAM-MIGRATION-TEXAS

How Biden’s Border Policy Turned Into A Child Trafficking Operation

How Biden's Border Policy Turned Into A Child Trafficking Operation

Biden Administration

illegal immigrants

Matt Walsh

Rape

BRAZIL-POLITICS-CORRUPTION-INTERCEPT-GREENWALD

Glenn Greenwald Called Me ‘Morally Deranged.’ Then This Happened.

Adoption

Glenn Greenwald

Same-Sex Marriage

&#8220;Sesame Street,&#8221; the live-action puppet show that has appealed to toddlers and young children on American televisions since 1969, once again celebrated &#8220;Pride Month&#8221; with a social media post on Sunday.
&#8220;On our street, everyone is welcome. Together, let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected for who they are. Happy #PrideMonth!&#8221; the official Sesame Street X account wrote above a photo of puppets joining hands to show a rainbow of colors.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
On our street, everyone is welcome. Together, let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and respected for who they are. Happy <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/PrideMonth?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#PrideMonth</a>! <a href="https://t.co/6JJFhxO9dC">pic.twitter.com/6JJFhxO9dC</a>
&mdash; Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/sesamestreet/status/1929206304855167120?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 1, 2025</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The &#8220;Pride Month&#8221; celebration has become routine for &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; as the kids show has posted about celebrating LGBT identity going back at least to <a href="https://x.com/sesamestreet/status/1140695725787025408">2019</a>.
&#8220;Happy #PrideMonth from Sesame Street! Today and every day, we celebrate and uplift the LGBTQIA+ members of our community. Together, let’s build a world where every person and family feels loved and welcomed for who they are,&#8221; Sesame Street wrote on June 1, 2024.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday&amp;_gl=1*1qdq03s*_gcl_au*MTYyNDg0MTE0OS4xNzQxODk4NTMz*_ga*MTEzOTk1NjkxNi4xNzI2MzI1MDQz*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDgzNzg2NDgkbzEwMDMkZzEkdDE3NDgzODEwMTckajU4JGwwJGgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
&#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; also ran a segment on a girl and her two &#8220;fathers&#8221; cooking last year during &#8220;Pride Month.&#8221;
&#8220;Families come in many different forms, and they celebrate their cultures in many different ways, like a favorite dish! Join Mia and her fathers Dave and Frank as they share their recipe for Arroz Imperial,&#8221; the show wrote.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Families come in many different forms, and they celebrate their cultures in many different ways, like a favorite dish! Join Mia and her fathers Dave and Frank as they share their recipe for Arroz Imperial. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Pride?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Pride</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Season54?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Season54</a> <a href="https://t.co/BWjvvVY4R7">pic.twitter.com/BWjvvVY4R7</a>
&mdash; Sesame Street (@sesamestreet) <a href="https://twitter.com/sesamestreet/status/1805662244224508319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">June 25, 2024</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Dave and Frank <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/19/us/sesame-street-gay-dads-trnd">made news</a> in 2021 as the first gay couple that the show introduced, making their first appearance on the episode titled &#8220;Family Day.&#8221; That episode also aired during &#8220;Pride Month.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Sesame Street: Family Day | Full Street Story" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Iph6Sj44Zpo?start=158&#038;feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
In 2023, actress Ariana DeBose, who identifies as &#8220;queer,&#8221; appeared alongside Elmo, a puppet representing a 3-year-old, to talk about &#8220;Pride Month.&#8221;
&#8220;From our Sesame Street family to yours, happy pride!&#8221; Elmo said in a clip. &#8220;Elmo loves you.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" style="border: none; overflow: hidden;" src="https://www.facebook.com/plugins/video.php?height=314&amp;href=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.facebook.com%2FSesameStreet%2Fvideos%2F281297327800062%2F&amp;show_text=false&amp;width=560&amp;t=0" width="560" height="314" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" data-mce-fragment="1"></iframe>
&#8220;Sesame Street&#8217;s&#8221; continued efforts to push LGBT lifestyles come as the Trump administration seeks to cut funding for PBS, which has aired &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; since it was first shown on TV. Last week, PBS and NPR <a href="https://www.axios.com/2025/05/30/pbs-funding-sue-trump">sued</a> the Trump administration over the president&#8217;s executive order seeking to strip all funding to the stations. House Democrats have criticized President Donald Trump&#8217;s move, <a href="https://democrats-appropriations.house.gov/news/press-releases/president-trump-moves-eliminate-sesame-street-suppress-emergency-alerts">saying</a> that it &#8220;threatens beloved PBS KIDS children’s programming like Sesame Street and Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood.&#8221;
Even if Trump&#8217;s order to cut funding to PBS and NPR goes through, &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; and its 55 seasons will likely remain on TV for years to come. After Trump moved to cut off federal funding to PBS, Netflix <a href="https://www.netflix.com/tudum/articles/sesame-street-release-date-news">announced</a> that it struck a deal with &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; to stream the children&#8217;s show on its platform. New episodes of &#8220;Sesame Street&#8221; were previously streamed on HBO until HBO&#8217;s parent company, Warner Bros. Discovery, let the deal with the show <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/business/business-news/hbo-cancels-sesame-street-licensing-deal-show-streaming-service-1235985075/">expire</a> last year. HBO still streams older episodes of the children&#8217;s show.

Sesame Street

‘Sesame Street,’ The Iconic PBS Show Targeting Toddlers, Goes All In On ‘Pride’ Month

LGBT

Pride Month

The teenage years can present numerous challenges that parents must adapt to, and it’s vital for a child’s development that parents don’t give up on teaching them responsibility, even when they start talking back with an attitude. 
In the second full-length episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Parenting</a>,” Dr. Jordan Peterson sits down with parents Jamie and Casey to talk through ways they can foster responsibility with their 13-year-old son, who is prone to throwing tantrums when he’s told something he doesn’t like. 
“We&#8217;ve got two kids, a 13-year-old and a 5-year-old,” the father, Casey, said. “Our 13-year-old, of course, was the only child for seven years. During that time, we spoiled the heck out of him because I grew up with nothing. And Jamie grew up in a household where things were love.”
“We both ended up funneling our attention on our children into things for those two reasons,” Casey added. “As a result, our 13-year-old throws tantrums quite often, loud screaming tantrums when he doesn&#8217;t get his way. And we&#8217;re trying to figure out how to get him through this part of his life to become a responsible adult.”
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday&amp;_gl=1*1qdq03s*_gcl_au*MTYyNDg0MTE0OS4xNzQxODk4NTMz*_ga*MTEzOTk1NjkxNi4xNzI2MzI1MDQz*_ga_CZKR9ZYKJP*czE3NDgzNzg2NDgkbzEwMDMkZzEkdDE3NDgzODEwMTckajU4JGwwJGgw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The parents asked Peterson how they can handle their teen’s behavior and push him in the right direction. 
“I think it helps when I talk to him like a human being,” Jamie said. “So if I ask him to do dishes or I say, ‘I really need you to help me with this, do you think you can do that?’ And he’ll say, ‘Yes.’”
Peterson then pointed to multiple questions parents can ask their children about contributing to household needs. 
“Well, he&#8217;s old enough to start thinking about that because he may never even notice that if he does pull his weight, he feels better about himself, and he&#8217;s more mature,” Peterson said. 
Watch “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting">Teaching Responsibility</a>,” the latest episode of “Parenting,” on DailyWire+ to find out how Peterson advised that Casey and Jaimie, and parents like them, foster a relationship with their teenagers while also pushing them to become responsible adults.

Parenting, Teaching Responsibility

Taming Teenage Tantrums: A Guide To Teaching Responsibility

DailyWire+

Dr. Jordan Peterson

Fathers

Mothers

Parenting

Teenagers

Years ago, my husband and I were on a family trip in the Bahamas, staying at the Atlantis resort. One afternoon, we wandered through their underground aquarium caves, marveling at the marine life. A little girl stood transfixed by a tank of moray eels, their jagged teeth gleaming ominously. Her mother shuddered, remarking, “Those are scary, aren’t they?” Undeterred, the girl darted to the next exhibit — a tank of barracudas — and exclaimed, “There’s something more awful than that, Mummy!”
Her innocent quest for the next frightful spectacle stuck with me, and lately, it’s become a metaphor for the conservative movement’s obsession with outrage.
On platforms like X, I see a similar pattern unfolding daily. A post about a classroom poster in Wisconsin — declaring, “If your parents aren’t accepting of your identity, I’m your mom now,” with rainbow flags and cartoon bears — ignites a firestorm. Commenters pile on, each trying to outdo the last: “This is grooming!” “It’s a cult!” “Wait until you hear about what’s happening in another district!”
The refrain echoes that little girl’s cry: There’s something more awful than that. We’re trapped in an outrage cycle, endlessly seeking the next shocking story about what’s happening to our kids, from controversial school policies to perceived overreaches by educators. But this one-upmanship isn’t moving us forward — it’s keeping us stuck.
The conservative movement has mastered the art of highlighting what’s wrong, and that awareness is crucial. Parents need to know when their rights are being undermined, whether by schools, government policies, or cultural shifts. But awareness alone isn’t enough. We can’t keep pointing to the next “awful” thing without channeling that energy into action.
Outrage may grab attention, but it’s the steps we take afterward that create change. It’s time to shift our focus from amplifying the problem to building solutions — and that’s exactly what we’re doing at the Heritage Foundation.
I’m thrilled to lead the newly launched Parental Rights Network at Heritage, and I’m joined by Pat Blackburn, a passionate advocate who brings invaluable experience to this fight. Together, we’re taking the lessons we learned from our time at Moms for Liberty — where we saw the power of grassroots organizing and the hunger parents have to protect their role in their children’s lives — and using them to create real momentum in the parental rights and family empowerment movement.
The Parental Rights Network is designed to foster collaboration and create momentum by connecting individuals and groups across the country. Anyone can join the Network through a link on our landing page, opening the door to a community dedicated to strengthening parental rights.
Our mission is clear: we want to move beyond the outrage cycle and toward tangible outcomes. That means equipping parents with the tools to advocate for their rights, connecting them with like-minded communities, and pushing for policies that prioritize parental authority over government overreach.
To make this happen, we’re hosting weekly calls where members can share resources, tools, and information, and connect with others across the country to build a stronger, unified movement. We’ll also send out a weekly newsletter recapping key updates, insights, and opportunities to stay engaged. Instead of just sharing the next alarming story, we’re encouraging parents to take action — attend a school board meeting, engage with local lawmakers, or join forces with other families to demand transparency and accountability in every aspect when it comes to their kids.
The Network isn’t just about pointing out what’s wrong. It’s about building a coalition that can right those wrongs.
The conservative movement has a choice. We can keep chasing “something more awful than that,” letting outrage define our response, or we can harness that energy to create a future where parents are empowered and respected as the primary decision-makers for their children. At the Parental Rights Network, we’re choosing the latter. Join us by signing up through our landing page, participating in our weekly calls, and staying informed with our newsletter.
Together, we can move from outrage to action — because our kids deserve more than a cycle of anger; they deserve a movement that delivers real change.
* * *
Tiffany Justice is the chair of the Parental Rights Initiative at the Heritage Foundation.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday">Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
Correction: A previous subheading to this article read &#8220;Moms for Liberty joins forces with The Heritage Foundation to create real momentum for parental rights.&#8221; Moms for Liberty, however, is not working directly with the Heritage Foundation. We regret the error.

Schoolgirl runs from school bus to hug mother

Beyond Outrage: A Call To Action For Conservative Parents

Education

Heritage Foundation

Parental Rights in Education

Parents rights

Public Schools

FDA Commissioner Marty Makary says the &#8220;Make America Healthy Again&#8221; <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jrs-highly-anticipated-maha-commission-report-is-out-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">report</a> on potential causes of chronic diseases in American children calls for a shift from a &#8220;reactionary&#8221; to a &#8220;proactive&#8221; healthcare system in the United States.
The Trump administration official, who appeared for &#8220;Sunday Morning Futures&#8221; <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/video/6373468984112" target="_blank" rel="noopener">interview</a> with Fox News anchor Jackie DeAngelis, argues that more focus should be placed on food and environmental toxins rather than fixating on drugs and treatments.
&#8220;Scientists have been waving the flag for years, saying you have got to look at this body of scientific data. And the modern medical establishment really has been disconnected. We have been so busy focusing on treatment, on billing and coding in a high-throughput model,&#8221; Makary said.
&#8220;We have got to stop and ask ourselves, should we be focusing more on school lunch programs, not just putting every kid on Ozempic?&#8221; he added, referring to a drug widely used for weight loss. &#8220;We have got to talk about food as medicine and gut health and the microbiome. We have got to talk about environmental toxins that cause cancer, not just the chemo to treat it.&#8221;
&#8220;And maybe we need to treat more diabetes with cooking classes, not just throwing insulin at people. This report is a fresh new approach that really calls for a transformation of our health care system from a reactionary system to a proactive system.&#8221;
Makary said he could &#8220;not be more excited&#8221; about the report with its takeaways about ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, stress, and the lack of physical activity, as well as the reliance on medications and vaccines. The Daily Wire <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/rfk-jrs-highly-anticipated-maha-commission-report-is-out-heres-what-to-know" target="_blank" rel="noopener">covered</a> its findings last week when it was released by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
&#8220;There are no sacred cows. It talks about 70% of the diet being ultra-processed. It talks about pesticides, microplastics, natural light exposure in children, sleep quality,&#8221; he said. &#8220;And, remember, Republican, Democrat and independent moms showed up in high numbers to vote for President Trump over this very issue.&#8221;
Makary emphasized the findings come from a &#8220;purely independent scientific report on the state of health in America&#8221; when DeAngelis pressed him about the power of the food industry and lobbyists in Washington who might try to fight to stop change.
&#8220;This report talks about how we fix our broken health care system by getting at the root causes and the ultimate issue that we have not been talking about, and that is the health of the population,&#8221; Makary said. &#8220;When you have 40% of our nation&#8217;s children with a chronic disease, that portends for a very expensive future health care system. We can address it. There are many things that we can do even at the FDA addressing food, which many people forget is, the first letter of the FDA is food. It&#8217;s not just drugs.&#8221;

Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary

‘MAHA’ Report On Chronic Disease Will Cause Major Shift In Healthcare, FDA Chief Predicts

Drugs

Food

Health

Ozempic

Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Trump Administration

U.S.

Leading a toddler in the right direction can often be exhausting and seem like a never-ending task, as any parent with a two- or three-year-old knows all too well, but parents also know that these early years come with incredible joy and satisfaction. 
So, how do you get through to your toddler in those difficult moments and reward them when they do good? Those are some of the questions that parents are asking Dr. Jordan Peterson in the first full-length episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting?row=0&amp;elementPosition=2&amp;rowType=Square+Show+Carousel">Parenting</a>,” which is now streaming exclusively on DailyWire+. 
“So we&#8217;re here because we want to foster a spirit of cooperation within our family,” a father named Nathan told Peterson. “Right now, we&#8217;re dealing with a pattern of behaviors with mainly our son, who&#8217;s three years old. Whenever we want to leave the house or cleaning up, sometimes he agrees … and then he starts running away. And I can always sort of pin him down to [put on] a jacket. Although I don&#8217;t think that&#8217;s a viable strategy over the long term.”
“Finding that balance. This is what we have to do. And we have to do it now,” Nathan’s wife, Jasmine, added. “But at the same time, we don&#8217;t want to crush that independence, autonomy, curiosity. So we need that balance.” 
Nathan and Jasmine said that they have a disciplinary issue with their toddler “at least three times a day” with outbursts that can last up to 30 minutes. “Just him running around, throwing his jacket on the floor,” Jasmine added. “Other times, let&#8217;s say it has to do with picking up his toys, I ask him to do it. He says, ‘No, my legs are broken.’” 
“Oh yeah, that’s creative,” Peterson said. 
<a href="https://get.dailywire.com/subscribe/plus/?utm_medium=website&amp;utm_source=editorial&amp;utm_campaign=memorial&amp;utm_content=editorialmemorialday" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Memorial Day Sale – Get 40% Off New DailyWire+ Annual Memberships</a>
The world-renowned psychologist then dissects why their child might be testing boundaries and goes through strategies that the young parents can use to align their toddler with their desires for him. 
Later in the episode, Peterson highlights the importance of rewarding young children when they go “out of their way to do something slightly better, or maybe a lot better than they have before, or just doing something that&#8217;s thoughtful or kind, or that helps the family come together.” 
“If I&#8217;m giving a reward, how do I teach the value that we&#8217;re cooperating? We&#8217;re getting trust because that&#8217;s actually a family value. As opposed to, I&#8217;m just going to get a reward out of this. Like how do you translate the bigger value?” Jasmine asked Peterson. 
Peterson goes into how parents “have to use reward carefully,” giving parents examples of how to encourage and praise their children’s good behavior. 
Watch “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting?elementPosition=0&amp;row=0&amp;rowHeadline=Mastering+Life+Collection&amp;rowType=Portrait+Show+Carousel">Toddler Misbehavior</a>” on DailyWire+.

Jordan Peterson, Parenting

How Should You Discipline And Reward Your Toddler?

Dr. Jordan B. Peterson sat down with &#8220;<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/podcasts/morning-wire" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Morning Wire</a>&#8221; host and Daily Wire Executive Editor John Bickley to discuss his new DailyWire+ series, “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parenting</a>.” 
In the interview that aired on Sunday, the famed psychologist offered a glimpse into his profound perspective portrayed in the series, including the moral authority of parents, their responsibility to raise capable children amid the modern cultural crisis, and the specific importance of “boundaries as a fence.”
The first full-length episode of “<a href="https://www.dailywire.com/show/parenting" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parenting</a>” is available now exclusively on DailyWire+.
 “Your household is a walled garden,” Dr. Peterson said. “That&#8217;s what paradise means, by the way. Paradise means ‘walled garden.’”
“The walls are there because they protect you from the outset and circumscribe a space, and a garden is a place where nature can flourish. If you set up a walled garden in your household properly, your children will play. That will give you a chance to play with your wife, which you want if you have any sense. The emergence of play in your household is an index of optimized harmony.&#8221;
<iframe loading="lazy" title="Jordan Peterson on Parenting: A Sacred Duty" width="500" height="281" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/QHZ4xF3AFxI?feature=oembed" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" referrerpolicy="strict-origin-when-cross-origin" allowfullscreen></iframe>
Dr. Peterson argued that boundaries are crucial in minimizing anxiety so this “play” can flourish. 
&#8220;Boundaries as a fence reduce anxiety, and that&#8217;s the same thing with stable household rules,&#8221; he added. &#8220;You might say the rules are restrictions, but what they&#8217;re really restricting is the chaos that produces anxiety… Boundaries, in the abstract sense of the principles by which you run the household, produce the kind of predictable stability within which play and exploration can take place — and they quell anxiety. You&#8217;re doing your child and you and your wife a great favor by imposing that regularity.”
These boundaries, according to Dr. Peterson, are the grounds on which parents fulfill their obligation to shape their children. 
&#8220;Your role as a parent — there’s two that are fundamental,” he said. “One is to encourage your child to be maximally socially acceptable, and you want to have that more or less in place by the age of 4, or there will be trouble, and it will be severe and hard to fix. And then your household should be a proxy for the real world, which means that it&#8217;s your responsibility as a parent to encourage behavior in the household that would translate well to the real world.”
<iframe style="width: 100%; max-width: 660px; overflow: hidden; border-radius: 10px;" src="https://embed.podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/jordan-peterson-interview-parenting-as-sacred-duty/id1576594336?i=1000709770627" height="175" frameborder="0" sandbox="allow-forms allow-popups allow-same-origin allow-scripts allow-storage-access-by-user-activation allow-top-navigation-by-user-activation"></iframe>

Jordan Peterson

Jordan Peterson On How Boundaries Create A ‘Paradise’ For Kids: ‘Your Household Is A Walled Garden’

Morning Wire

A 2020 research paper titled “Car Seats as Contraception” has once again become the springboard for debates over why so-called “family vehicles” such as minivans and SUVs are unable to accommodate multiple car seats easily.
Social media users argue that it’s just another way that large families are discouraged or even discriminated against. They question why car seat manufacturers are not intentionally designing their products to be more streamlined so three can fit across a bench seat in the back of a high occupancy vehicle, and why car manufacturers are not similarly concerned with making their vehicles big-family friendly.
The <a href="https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/full/10.1086/731812">paper</a>, which appeared in The University of Chicago Journal of Law &amp; Economics, argues that people are less likely to have more children due to the limitations posed by fitting many car seats into a standardly equipped vehicle.
“Women with two children younger than their state’s [car seat] age mandate have a lower annual birth probability of .73 percentage points,” the paper says. It notes that this trend began in 1977 when car seat laws were passed.
This concept has become a hot topic of conversation on X as parents with big families relate with this particular struggle.
“I’ve been saying this. [T]here is NO reason you shouldn’t be able to easily fit 3 car seats of any brand in any car that has 3 back seats. so many people I know have had to buy a bigger car for a third kid and I don’t think people realize this is actually a serious consideration for everyone thinking of growing their family beyond 2 kids,” one reaction <a href="https://x.com/smalltown_wife/status/1922026703070597141">said</a>.
“I’m a car seat fan — my kids max out weight limits rear facing &amp; in 5 pt harnesses,” one person <a href="https://x.com/OliveSprouts/status/1921767411428020290">shared</a>. “HOWEVER. Carseat design &amp; car design appear to be 2 fields so separate they’ve never even contemplated the existence of the other.”
“If your minivan seats 7 you should be able to fit 5 car seats,” the social media user added.
“I find this 100% believable,” another person <a href="https://x.com/peterjhasson/status/1921692058294628771">wrote</a>. “We have two toddlers. Our third child is on the way. Federal regulations mean that we are *required* to buy a bigger car than our CR-V if we want our family to legally ride together in the same car. I have 0 idea how that’s supposed to work if you’re a working class parent.”
“We just had to buy a bigger vehicle to accommodate #5 which who’ll be here October,” another commenter echoed. “We had a Grand Caravan, and I wasn’t able to fit 4 in properly because of the rear bench seatbelts and anchors. We just did the best we could which meant not using the seats as per the manual.”
The topic went viral once before when a resurfaced clip of Vice President J.D. Vance weighed in on the topic during a 2023 congressional hearing. A clip of his statements was circulated in September 2024 ahead of the election.
&#8220;American families aren&#8217;t having enough children. I think there&#8217;s evidence that some of the things that we&#8217;re doing to parents is driving down the number of children that American families are having,&#8221; Vance said in the <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@whattheactualkaren/video/7416820046808321323">video</a>.
&#8220;In particular, there&#8217;s evidence that the car seat rules that we&#8217;ve imposed, which of course I want kids to drive in car seats, have driven down the number of babies born in this country by over 100,000. So as we think about how to make kids safe here, I think we should do it in a way that&#8217;s accommodating to American families.&#8221;
Social media accounts dedicated to making multiple car seats work in standard American cars have become popular, with one of the most well-known, “The Car Mom,” promising “Car reviews and car buying tips for families.”

Car Seats

Are Car Seats Making It Harder To Have More Kids? Online Debate Reignites

Cars

family

Safety

It’s a pattern we’ve seen far too often.
A tech giant like Meta unveils an ambitious new product — often hyped as the future of digital interaction — only for it to quickly become a haven for predators and a danger to children. Again and again, Meta launches new tools and platforms without essential safeguards, unleashing real-world harm.
Virtual reality had become a breeding ground for predators and exploitation years before Meta released its first headset. A 2017 BBC investigation revealed that pedophiles were using VR to view and store child sexual abuse material (CSAM).
Then came the Metaverse. Just weeks after its 2021 debut, reports emerged of simulated sexual harassment, assault, and even gang rape within the platform. Victims — including minors — experienced these violations within minutes of logging on.
Yet despite these giant red flags, in 2023, Meta lowered the recommended minimum age for its VR headsets from 13-years-old to 10, and rolled out new kids’ accounts for ages 10 to 12.
One study published in New Media &amp; Society found that nearly 1 in 5 young users encountered grooming behavior in Meta’s virtual reality spaces, while over 20% were exposed to violent or sexually explicit content. Another investigation by SumOfUs in 2022 uncovered widespread virtual groping and gang rape in Horizon Worlds, a platform disturbingly accessible to children.
“Given the failure of Meta to moderate content on its other platforms, it is unsurprising that it is already seriously lagging behind with content moderation on its metaverse platforms,&#8221; SumOfUs researchers said. &#8220;With just 300,000 users, it is remarkable how quickly Horizon Worlds has become a breeding ground for harmful content.”
You’d think Meta would have learned by now. You’d think child safety would be a baseline, not an afterthought.
But once again, they’ve failed.
According to a recent Wall Street Journal investigation, Meta’s new AI chatbot willingly engages in sexually explicit conversations — even with users who identify as minors. The report found that both Meta’s official AI and user-created bots simulated sexual scenarios, sometimes in the voices of celebrities like John Cena, with users posing as 14-year-olds. In one disturbing exchange, the AI told the teen: “I want you, but I need to know you’re ready,” before launching into graphic, predatory content.
Even more disturbing, the Journal investigation found that some of Meta’s most popular companion bots are designed to impersonate children and teens — and that adults can use these bots to simulate sex with minors.
This isn’t a glitch. It’s a systemic failure — and a predictable one at that.
At every stage, Meta has prioritized monetizing kids over keeping them safe. They’ve prioritized market dominance over the most basic ethical obligations. They’ve positioned themselves as the “good guy” alternative to TikTok, while simultaneously pouring billions of dollars into blocking bills designed to protect children from online harm.
Time and again, it has chosen to push boundaries, scale fast, and apologize later — if at all.
The repeated exposure of children to harm isn’t a byproduct of some unforeseen bug. It’s the logical outcome of a corporate culture that sees safety not as a prerequisite, but as a PR problem to manage after the fact. Engineers and executives race to ship the next big thing, but rarely stop to ask the most fundamental questions: Should we build this? How could it be misused? Who might it hurt?
Meta’s failures aren’t isolated incidents — they are woven into the DNA of how the company operates. Without legal accountability and enforceable safety standards, there’s no incentive for that to change. We are not witnessing isolated oversights. We are witnessing negligence at scale.
That’s why legislation like the Kids Online Safety Act (KOSA) is essential. KOSA would establish a legal duty of care for platforms and require that the most robust parental controls and content filters are activated by default. This is a vital step in holding tech companies accountable and protecting kids in online spaces.
Congress took an important first step by passing the TAKE IT DOWN Act, which criminalizes the distribution of revenge porn and non-consensual AI-generated pornographic content. But that’s not enough.
KOSA must be next.
Because the cost of inaction is not hypothetical. Children are being exploited in real time — and unless we force companies like Meta to build safety into their products, it will keep happening.
Melissa Henson is the Vice President of the <a href="http://www.parentstv.org/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Parents Television and Media Council</a>, a nonpartisan education organization advocating responsible entertainment. On X: @ThePTC.
The views expressed in this piece are those of the author and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.

Menu