By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2026-07-29 18:51:15 | Updated at 2026-07-29 22:16:42
3 hours ago
Sen. Chuck Grassley is demanding answers from Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg after a former company engineer who created “digital experiences for kids” admitted on camera he tried to sext a 13-year-old.
Grassley — a powerful Iowa Republican who serves as the Senate’s president pro tempore — sent a scathing letter to the Facebook founder in the wake of the disturbing confession of 44-year-old engineering manager Josh Felker, who was caught in undercover sting by the Predator Poachers Long Island.
Felker, 44, who has since been placed on leave from the Facebook parent company, was arrested on July 15 after admitting to the group in a now-viral video that he had been grooming and sexting someone he thought was a teen girl who doesn’t actually exist.
The Meta worker had made a number of disturbing statements in the video, including that he would like to be the girl he attempted to groom’s father.
“These allegations raise significant questions regarding Meta’s internal governance, employee screening, trust and safety culture, and controls for employees who work on products and experiences designed for children,” Grassley wrote in the letter sent to Zuckerburg on Wednesday, referencing The Post’s exclusive reporting on the sting.
“They also raise questions about Meta’s processes for identifying, investigating, and responding to employee misconduct,” the letter added.
Grassley questioned the tech giant’s internal vetting practices, oversight for employees working on children’s products, and asked whether the company has ever knowingly kept registered sex offenders on its payroll.
The 92-year-old Republican, who chairs the Senate Judiciary Committee and is the chamber’s second-highest-ranking member behind the vice president, gave Meta until Aug. 12 to answer eight pointed questions regarding The Post’s reporting and the Predator Poachers’ sting.
These questions include asking Zuckerberg to address each allegation made against Felker, whether the engineer had access to non-public user data or internal systems tied to minors’ personal accounts, and whether he had any internal complaints lodged against him.
Grassley also demanded Meta turn over a full accounting of every internal complaint, arrest and allegation of sexual misconduct toward minors lodged against its employees over the past decade and describe, in detail, the background screening and vetting processes for hiring employees that work on developing “digital experiences for children.
“The foxes must not be allowed to guard the hen house,” Grassley wrote.
Wednesday’s letter is now the fourth in just over a year that Grassley has sent pressing Zuckerberg on child safety failures at the social media giant — and he made clear his patience has run out.
“To date, Meta has failed to fully and completely respond to my questions and document requests,” Grassley wrote.
The senator noted he first wrote to Meta in April 2025 over whistleblower claims the company targeted ads at teens based on their emotional states, then again in September 2025 over reports of bullying and sexual harassment on its Horizon Worlds platform, and for a third time later that month over allegations that the company misrepresented the mental health risks and sexual exploitation he said runs rampant on its platforms.
A Meta spokesperson didn’t directly address Grassley’s letter, but told The Post, “This employee is no longer with the company and we are cooperating with law enforcement in its investigation.”
