US Lawmakers Question Meta Over Reports of Illicit Drug Advertising
A bipartisan group of US Congress members has asked Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg for explanations on advertisements for the sale of illegal drugs on Instagram and Facebook. Learn more about the concerns and what it could mean for the social media giant.
- A group of US lawmakers wrote a letter to Meta expressing concerns over reports of promoting illicit drug advertisements on platforms including Instagram and Facebook.
- An investigation by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) found over 450 ads on Instagram and Facebook selling pharmaceuticals and other drugs.
Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, has come under the scrutiny of US lawmakers after it was revealed that its platforms hosted ads that promoted illegal drugs such as opioids, MDMA, and cocaine, among other things. Reports by the Tech Transparency Project and the Wall Street Journal found hundreds of such ads on Instagram, Facebook, Whatsapp, and Messenger despite content that promoted illegal drugs blatantly.
The advertisements circumvented the company’s content moderation systems and allowed users to reach drug dealers via messaging apps. While Meta has policies against such content, Meta’s automated systems have failed to block such ads. Consequently, a bipartisan group of 19 lawmakers penned a letter to CEO Mark Zuckerberg demanding explanations and measures to stop such ads going forward.
The Letter
The letter by US lawmakers raised concerns about such ads, particularly on children and teenagers, especially considering that Meta’s president of global affairs, Nick Clegg, called the opioid epidemic and illicit drug sales a ‘major public health issue.’ Meta is also a member of the Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms, which aims to stop online sales of drugs and create awareness about associated risks. The letter has asked for multiple clarifications, including:
- How many illicit drug advertisements has Meta discovered on its platforms?
- How many advertisements have been reported that Meta did not discover by itself?
- How much revenue has Meta collected from these advertisements?
- What processes does Meta use to review and approve drug-related advertisements?
- Were these processes followed for the reported ads?
- Action taken against the advertising entities
- Actions taken to prevent such entities from continuing to advertise Meta’s platforms
- How long were the advertisements available on Meta platforms before they were taken down?
- How many users viewed and interacted with the advertisements, and how many were minors?
- What will Meta do to prevent illicit drug advertisements on its platforms in the future?
- What government authorities are Meta consulting with regarding the ads?
- Was Meta using the personal health information of its users to deliver such ads?
The lawmakers also noted that Meta had, over the years, constantly resisted data privacy protections for users under the guise of personalizing its services.
Takeaways
Following the letter, Meta announced the removal of all the flagged ads and banned the accounts responsible for posting the ads. However, despite this, the incident highlighted lapses in the company’s content moderation measures. Furthermore, there are also concerns about the role of big tech companies in stopping illegal activities online, considering such federal investigations.
As lawmakers push Meta to account for activities on its platforms, the incident also raises questions about the efficacy of using AI in content moderation efforts and social media companies’ ethical and legal responsibilities in controlling illegal activities on their platforms.
LATEST NEWS STORIES
