The feds are poking Facebook for possible drug dealing.
US prosecutors in Virginia are investigating Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, for enjoying a task in facilitating illegal drug sales online, the Wall Street Journal reported Saturday.
They’ve issued subpoenas and begun questioning whether Meta’s social media platforms are enabling and making the most of illicit drug sales, sources told the Journal.
Prosecutors have also asked for records related to “violative drug content on Meta’s platforms and/or the illicit sale of medication via Meta’s platforms,” in keeping with copies of subpoenas delivered last 12 months that were seen by the Journal.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, telehealth corporations took advantage of Facebook and Instagram by running ads for prescribed drugs for the treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, anxiety and other medical conditions. The ads contributed to the abuse of controlled substances comparable to Adderall, the Journal reported, citing interviews from patients and employees.
Sellers recently touted fake versions of popular weight reduction drugs on Meta sites, including some that don’t have FDA approval yet, the Journal has reported. But even when Meta has removed a number of the flagged ads, recent ones soon appear, the outlet said.
The subpoenas were requested by Assistant US Attorney Randy Ramseyer, who previously probed Purdue Pharma’s OxyContin marketing. He was also featured in “Dopesick,” the 2021 Hulu miniseries on the US opioid crisis.
The Food and Drug Administration has been involved within the investigation however the agency and prosecutors’ office wouldn’t comment, the Journal reported, adding that such probes don’t all the time result in formal charges of wrongdoing.
Meta has said it’s working with the State Department and others to stop the sale of synthetic drugs online, in keeping with WSJ.
“The sale of illicit drugs is against our policies and we work to seek out and take away this content from our services,” a spokesman for Meta said in a press release to the outlet. “Meta proactively cooperates with law enforcement authorities to assist combat the sale and distribution of illicit drugs.”
“The opioid epidemic is a serious public health issue that requires motion from all parts of US society,” Nick Clegg, the corporate’s president of world affairs, tweeted Friday.
Legislators have been hampered of their efforts to carry Big Tech liable for what third parties post on their platforms by Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act, which says that online platforms aren’t answerable for what third parties post, with a few exceptions.
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