Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha sued Meta in Providence Superior Court over its alleged tolerance for scam advertising on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. The state says Meta knowingly helped create and optimize fraudulent ads, and that it sometimes charged suspected scammers higher rates rather than blocking them. The suit seeks civil penalties, consumer restitution, disgorgement of profits, and a court-ordered monitor.
The lawsuit argues Meta profits from scam ads and misleads the public about its fraud-fighting efforts. It cites internal Meta figures: about 15 billion "higher risk" scam ads daily, roughly 10% of 2024 revenue from fraudulent or banned marketing, and $7 billion annually from ads with elevated legal risk. The case follows a similar suit by Santa Clara County, California, in May 2026.
Rhode Island Attorney General Peter Neronha filed a lawsuit against Meta in Providence Superior Court on Thursday over the company's alleged tolerance for and profiting from scam advertising on Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.
UK COVID inquiries have documented failures in care-home policies, including decisions to discharge hospital patients into care homes, but no official inquiry has concluded that care home residents were "sacrificed" to protect the NHS.
BRhode Island is taking Meta to court, and the numbers in this lawsuit are wild.
BOh, this is the scam ads case—what'd they find?
BThe attorney general says Meta isn't just failing to block scam ads. It's optimizing them. Charging suspected scammers premium rates instead of kicking them off.
BCharging them more? That's a hell of a business model—profiting off the fraud you claim to fight.
BThat's exactly the argument. The suit says about fifteen billion high-risk scam ads run daily. Fifteen billion every single day. And roughly ten percent of Meta's 2024 revenue came from fraudulent or banned marketing.
BIf that number's even half true, Meta has a serious problem. This isn't a few bad actors slipping through.
BAnd the part that's going to anger people: the Rhode Island AG says senior citizens specifically have lost substantial sums to fraud ads they saw on Meta platforms.
BRight. We've all seen them—fake celebrity endorsements, get-rich-quick crypto schemes. They look just polished enough to fool someone's grandmother.
BMeta spokesman Andy Stone fired back—says the company removed more than 159 million scam ads, and the AG refused to engage, hired an out-of-state firm to, quote, concoct a lawsuit.
BConcoct. That's their defense. Strong word from a company accused of minting money off fraud.
BBut here's the thing I keep coming back to. If the scam ads are so obvious that a state AG can sue over them, why does Meta need to charge the scammers more instead of just... blocking them?
BThat's the core. The lawsuit says the ads have elevated legal risk—Meta's own numbers show seven billion a year—but the platform keeps accepting them. Follows the same pattern as the Santa Clara County suit in May.
BAnd Rhode Island wants an independent monitor in the building. That's real oversight, not a promise to do better.
BWhich might be the only thing that works. When the fine is a fraction of the profit, it's just a cost of doing business.
BAnd this lands on a day when Meta's already getting hammered on Capitol Hill over AI and content moderation. Bad timing if you're Zuck.
BI think the deeper issue is that we've normalized scam ads as the price of a free internet. This suit says the price is too damn high.
BAgreed. And the fact that a state as small as Rhode Island is taking this on—it's a signal. Other AGs are watching.
BMeanwhile, on the other side of the Atlantic, something genuinely strange is happening.
BCatholic news accounts on Bluesky are claiming Pope Leo XIV needs no further treatment after his lung cancer surgery.
BThat would be wonderful news if it were confirmed. But no Vatican announcement, no major outlet has verified it.
BSo we're in rumor territory. A big papal update dropped into the world by an account with thirteen likes. That's how it starts.
BThe public is understandably hungry for good news about the Pope. But until we hear it from the Holy See, it's just a post.
BI get it though—people care deeply. You want to hope. But you can't run a newsroom on hope and thirteen likes.
BRight. And on X, there's a very different kind of post going around—one we should address head-on.
BThe one about Ilhan Omar. Some account claiming a DOJ filing lists her under another name, with 'Elmi' attached—and implying something about Ahmed Nur Said Elmi.
BLet's be clear: no independent reporting, no official document. We checked. It's just an assertion from an account that seems designed to raise questions without answering them.
BAnd the old implication about Omar's past—it's been debunked repeatedly. Raising it through a court filing that may not even exist is bad faith.
BThis is how smear campaigns work now. Not with facts, but with 'questions'—what does it actually establish? Well, nothing.
BIt's garbage. And the algorithm loves garbage because outrage pays. We're choosing not to amplify it further.
BNow, a genuinely important development from the UK.
BA damning COVID inquiry finding has surfaced—care home residents discharged from hospitals into care homes without proper testing. Families are calling it a betrayal.
BThe inquiry documents real failures: policies designed to free up NHS beds, insufficient testing, tragic outcomes. That's established.
BBut the post floating around claims residents were 'sacrificed' to protect the NHS. That's an emotional leap the inquiry itself doesn't make.
BThe distinction matters. Bad policy, even deadly policy, isn't the same as intentional sacrifice. The systems failed, and people died—that's horrifying enough without the rhetoric.
BI think families need to hear that the truth is bad enough. No one needs embellishment. The failures stand on their own.
BAnd one more unverified report from a tweet about US evacuating diplomats' families across the Middle East. No official word, no credible confirmation.
BIf that were true, it would be on every wire. It's not. So file under 'maybe later,' not news.
BThat's the job tonight—separating the real from the rage. Back with more after this.