US lawmakers call out Mark Zuckerberg and Press Meta over illegal drug advertising

San Francisco:

On Thursday, members of Congress demanded that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg provide them with details about ads for opioids and other illegal drugs on the tech giant's platform.

A letter signed by 19 lawmakers called for details of such ads in light of disturbing reports from the Tech Transparency Project and the Wall Street Journal.

“Meta appears to continue to shirk its social responsibility and disregard the guidelines of its own community,” the letter states.

“What is particularly egregious about this case is that it was not user-generated content on the dark web or private social media pages, but rather Meta-approved and monetized advertising.”

The Tech Transparency Project reported in March that it found over 450 ads on Instagram and Facebook promoting a range of illegal drugs.

Many of the ads “made no secret of their intentions,” according to the nonprofit research group, showing images of prescription drug bottles or cocaine packets and urging people to place orders.

As part of the investigation, Meta's ad library was searched for terms such as “OxyContin,” “Vicodin” and “Pure Coke,” TTP reported.

In the letter to Zuckerberg, the congressmen demanded answers from him by September 6.

Questions included how many ads for illegal drugs Meta ran on its platform, what measures it took to combat them, and whether viewers were targeted with such ads based on personal health information.

Meta intended to reply to the letter.

“Drug dealers are criminals who operate across platforms and communities. That's why we work with law enforcement to combat these activities,” a Meta spokesperson said in response to an AFP query.

“Our systems are designed to proactively detect and take action against violative content. We also reject hundreds of thousands of reports for violating our drug policies.”

Meta continues to invest in improving its ability to detect advertisements for illegal drugs, the spokesman added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)