Newsom Spent $189 Million on Tablets for Prisoners. This Is What Inmates Are Doing With Them.

A new scandal is emerging out of Gavin Newsom’s California, where the governor spent nearly $200 million providing every inmate in the state prison system, including those on death row, with their own tablet devices. The worst part? Inmates reportedly used the taxpayer-funded tablets to access pornography and even solicit minors over the internet.

🚨 Gavin Newsom just blew $189 MILLION of California taxpayer money on digital tablets for EVERY inmate in the state prison system — including death row.

They sold it as “education and rehabilitation.”

Reality? Convicted murderers and rapists are turning them into personal porn… pic.twitter.com/um0ILRnndi
— Gunther Eagleman™ (@GuntherEagleman) May 13, 2026

EXCLUSIVE: California spent nearly $189 million to give every state prisoner a free iPad. We interviewed a dozen death row inmates, who told us that prisoners are using the tablets to watch porn, engage in x-rated chats, and groom minors on the outside.https://t.co/bpmvDB6vPm
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) May 13, 2026

According to the Mahattan Institue's City Journal, "The (Newsom) administration heralded the effort to replace inmates’ old tablets—which were piloted in 2018 and given to nearly all prisoners by 2023—as a step toward 'digital equity' for 'justice impacted' individuals, who could, in theory, use the devices to contact their families, consume 'educational' content, and 'learn new technology.'"

In reality, taxpayer-funded tablets have also been used for more lurid endeavors. In this exclusive City Journal investigation, we contacted dozens of death-row inmates, who told us that prisoners in the state system use such devices to watch pornography and have explicit sexual conversations. Some prisoners, according to a former high-ranking California corrections official, use their tablets to groom minors. Though the state has claimed to regulate explicit content, the inmates told us that users can easily evade detection.

The California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation argued to City Journal that the tablets were “tightly controlled education tools” and provided inmates with “access to the Bible, education, and reentry resources that actually reduce crime.” Although the inmates denied those claims, arguing that the tablets were nothing more than tools used to satisfy their personal desires.

It's hardly the most important part of the story, but Gavin Newsom spent $189 million to buy digital tablets for 90,000 prisoners—or, more than $2,000 per tablet. He's squandering taxpayer cash to give personal sex machines to every state prison inmate. https://t.co/9giORpNVua
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) May 13, 2026

California death row inmate Sammy Amador tells us that he uses a state-issued digital tablet to watch "porn" and "short clips of [his] family at the Beach."

This is Gavin Newsom's $189 million "digital equity" initiative at work. pic.twitter.com/jH2HzS67tK
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) May 13, 2026

Governor Newsom's press office denied the bombshell report.

This is flat-out FALSE.

This MAGA nonprofit provides ZERO evidence for its outrageous claims.

Their “sources”? Convicted murderers and a random guy who doesn’t even live in California.

FACT: Prison tablets DO NOT provide open internet access.

FACT: Communications are… https://t.co/YqRsJ8ICei
— Governor Newsom Press Office (@GovPressOffice) May 13, 2026

Actually, our sources are:

• A former high-ranking California prison official

• Federal prosecutors, who are pursuing charges against a prisoner for grooming a minor through his state-issued tablet

• A dozen current inmates who are enjoying your "porn for prisoners" program https://t.co/Pj3mPVJpKf
— Christopher F. Rufo ⚔️ (@christopherrufo) May 13, 2026

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