San Francisco: On Thursday, a group of 19 lawmakers demanded that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg provide detailed information about advertisements for opioids and other illegal drugs on the company’s platforms.
Their request followed alarming findings from the Tech Transparency Project and the Wall Street Journal.
The congressional letter accused Meta of neglecting its social responsibility and flouting its own community guidelines.
“What is particularly egregious about this instance is that this was not user-generated content on the dark web or on private social media pages, but rather ads approved and monetized by Meta,” the letter stated.
In March, the Tech Transparency Project reported discovering over 450 ads on Instagram and Facebook promoting various illegal drugs. Many of these ads were explicit, featuring images of prescription pill bottles and bricks of cocaine while urging users to place orders.
The investigation used Meta’s Ad Library to search for terms such as “OxyContin,” “Vicodin,” and “pure coke,” revealing a troubling pattern of drug advertisements slipping through Meta’s content moderation.
The lawmakers’ letter demanded a response from Zuckerberg by September 6, asking for specifics on the volume of illicit drug ads Meta has hosted, the actions taken to address them, and whether these ads were targeted based on personal health data.
In response, Meta stated that it is committed to addressing this issue. “Drug dealers are criminals who operate across platforms, which is why we collaborate with law enforcement to tackle this problem,” a Meta spokesperson told AFP.
“Our systems are designed to proactively detect and act against violating content, and we reject hundreds of thousands of ads for breaching our drug policies.”
The spokesperson assured that Meta is investing in enhancing its ability to identify and remove illicit drug ads.
