In a letter to Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Thursday, a group of federal politicians from both parties expressed their displeasure with the company’s apparent inability to stop illegal drug advertisements from airing on its platform, according to a CNBC report.
TakeAway Points:
- A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg a letter expressing concern about illicit drug advertisements running on Facebook and Instagram.
- The letter highlights recent revelations from The Wall Street Journal and the Tech Transparency Project organisation that discovered a torrent of similar ads on Meta’s apps.
- Meta acknowledged receipt of the letter and said it intended to react.
Lawmakers raise concerns over illicit drug ads
The House members noted recent investigations from The Wall Street Journal and the charity Tech Transparency Project, which discovered a torrent of advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that pointed users to third-party platforms where they could acquire prescription medicines, cocaine, and other recreational drugs.
“On March 16, 2024, the Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. federal prosecutors have been investigating Meta for facilitating the sale of illicit drugs,” the lawmakers wrote.
Instead of quickly addressing the issue and fully removing the illicit content, on July 31, 2024, the Wall Street Journal again reported that Meta was “running ads on Facebook and Instagram that steer users to online marketplaces for illegal drugs.’”
Most troubling, they wrote, is that Meta continues to run ads despite the company facing an investigation by U.S. federal prosecutors “for facilitating the sale of illicit drugs.”
Letter to Meta CEO
The letter’s 19 authors include Reps. Tim Walberg (R-Mich.), Gus Bilirakis (R-Fla.), Kathy Castor (D-Fla.) and Lori Trahan (D-Mass.). They noted the ads were “approved and monetized by Meta” and that they were not hidden on the dark web or private social mediahttps://techbullion.com/meta-may-receive-a-lawsuit-over-fake-advertisements/
pages. Media outlets and researchers could easily find the ads, which contained “contained blatant references to illegal drugs,” while Meta’s internal processes apparently missed them, according to the letter.
“Time and time again we have heard from Meta that users come to your platforms because they like the personalization and experiences you provide, and you use sensitive personal information to direct such personalization through content and advertisements,” the lawmakers wrote.
“We in Congress, on multiple occasions, have worked to establish data privacy and security protections for Americans but have, in each instance, been met with friction and opposition from Meta with claims that we would drastically disrupt this personalization you are providing.”
They sent Zuckerberg a list of 15 questions intended to uncover more details about how the Facebook parent is addressing the problem, and asked him to respond by Sept. 6.
Meta confirmed receipt of the letter and said it plans to respond. The company shared with CNBC the statement below that it gave to the Journal when it published the initial story:
“Drug dealers are criminals who work across platforms and communities, which is why we work with law enforcement to help combat this activity. Our systems are designed to proactively detect and enforce against violating content, and we reject hundreds of thousands of ads for violating our drug policies. We continue to invest resources and further improve our enforcement of this kind of content. Our hearts go out to those suffering from the tragic consequences of this epidemic; it requires all of us to work together to stop it.”
