While the debate continues, teenagers are still dying. “We constantly evaluate where we can keep strengthening our work to combat this illegal activity,” she said. She added that Snapchat works with law enforcement and other experts. Kelsey Donohue, a Snapchat spokesperson, said the company has raised awareness of counterfeit pills and is using machine learning to detect drug-related content. In fact, the algorithms push this at you.” How Are Snapchat and IG Responding to Online Drug Dealing?Įven though Snapchat and Instagram will not face charges of homicide, they are responding to public outcry. Feinberg said, “It’s extremely easy to find this stuff. The algorithms began recommending more dealers to follow (a process called algorithmic amplification). He reported that “dealers often operate with little fear of getting caught.” And Feinberg discovered that once he signed up to follow a few dealers’ accounts, the social media platforms actually encouraged him to follow more. Parents are asking why Snapchat and Instagram aren’t being punished for connecting their teens with the social media drug dealers and pills that killed them.īut the social media companies continue to hold the position that “as technology platforms, they are not legally accountable for content posted on their sites.” And during a congressional hearing, Adam Mosseri, head of Instagram, noted, “Accounts selling drugs or any other regulated goods are not allowed on the platform.”Įric Feinberg, vice president for content moderation at Coalition for a Safer Web, does not agree that technological platforms bear no responsibility.įeinberg runs surveillance for social media drug dealers online. Drug dealers can also be charged with homicide if the buyer dies from an overdose. Senator Amy Klobuchar commented, “If social media companies were held legally liable for deaths due to drugs sold on their platforms, they might find faster ways to respond to the crisis.”Īfter all, street dealers are held legally liable for their sales. “Nobody dies from taking a Xanax nobody dies from taking a single Percocet. “These are not overdoses these are poisonings,” said Shabbir Safdar, director of the Partnership for Safe Medicines, a nonprofit fighting pharmaceutical counterfeits. Instead, they are counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl-a drug so powerful that a few grains can kill a grown man. To make matters worse, many of these pills aren’t what they claim to be. The Tech Transparency Project stated, “Instagram offers an instant ‘ drug pipeline’ for kids, making it possible for them to find Xanax, ecstasy, and opioids in just a few clicks.” Social Media Drug Dealers: A “Pipeline” for Kids Dealers moved from the darknet to Instagram and Snapchat, where many openly sell pills labeled Xanax, Ox圜ontin, Percocet, or Adderall.
These platforms are the new frontier for online drug dealing-a place where dealers can sell lethal drugs without consequences in many cases. And many parents are asking why no one is held accountable. His son’s story is just one among many similar tragedies.
Samuel is the father of a 16-year-old teenager who overdosed after taking fentanyl-laced pills he bought on Snapchat.
is that they publicize one Band-Aid after another, but at the end of the day, you can still go online and get drugs in seconds.” – Samuel Chapman
0 kommentar(er)
