Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., was interviewed by “The Circuit with Emily Chang” at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, USA, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A bipartisan group of lawmakers sent Yuan Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg expressed concerns in a letter Thursday about the company’s failure to prevent illegal drug ads from running on its platform.
House members cited recent Report From the Wall Street Journal and non-profit organization The Tech Transparency Project, which discovered numerous ads on Facebook and Instagram, directed users to third-party services where they could buy prescription drugs, 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 illegal drugs,” the lawmakers wrote. “On July 31, 2024, the Wall Street Journal again reported that Meta was ‘running ads on Facebook and Instagram to direct users to illegal drug online markets’ rather than quickly fixing the problem and completely removing the illegal content.”
Most troubling, they wrote, is that Meta continues to run ads even as the company faces an investigation by U.S. federal prosecutors for “facilitating the sale of illegal drugs.”
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 that the illegal drug ads were “approved and monetized by Meta” and that they were not hidden on the dark web or private social media pages. Media outlets and researchers could easily find the ads, which contained “blatant references to illegal drugs,” while Meta’s internal processes apparently missed them.
“We have heard from Meta time and time again that users come to your platform because they like the personalization and experience you provide, and that you use sensitive personal information to direct that through content and advertising,” the lawmakers wrote. Personalization. “We have tried repeatedly in Congress to establish data privacy and security protections for Americans, but each time we have been met with friction and pushback from Meta, who claimed that we would completely undermine this kind of personalization for you. “
They sent Zuckerberg a list of 15 questions designed to reveal more details about how Meta would solve the problem, and gave him until September 6 to provide answers.
Meta confirmed it had received the letter and said it planned to respond. The company shared with CNBC the same statement it provided to the Wall Street Journal at the time of its original report.
“Drug traffickers are criminals who operate 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 combat violating content, and we have rejected hundreds of thousands of content that violates our Required advertising. We will continue to invest resources and further strengthen enforcement of this type of content, and our hearts go out to those suffering the tragic consequences of this pandemic – which requires all of us to work together to stop it.
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