US lawmakers challenge Meta over illegal drug ads

In a letter signed by about twenty elected Democrats and Republicans of Congress, and published online, they share their “deep concerns regarding recent reports of advertising for illicit drugs on your platforms”.

They cite recent articles in the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) and surveys by the NGO Tech Transparency Project that showed that such announcements were common.

"Meta approved advertisements throughout 2024 that were clearly designed to sell drugs, including 'boxes of OxyContin' (…)", the elected officials emphasize.

Meta "is not up to the task"

Overprescribing of the painkiller OxyContin is widely credited with sparking the opioid crisis that has killed more than 700,000 people in the United States between 1999 and 2022. Members of Congress believe Meta "is not up to the task".

"What is particularly serious", they continue, "This is not user-generated content on the dark web (hidden parts of the internet, editor's note) or on private pages, but rather advertisements approved and monetized by Meta".

They conclude with a series of 15 questions on the issue. Meta confirmed to AFP that he had received the letter and said he planned to respond.

"Our systems are designed to proactively detect content that violates the law, and we reject hundreds of thousands of ads that violate our drug policies.", said a spokesperson for the group.

Meta earned more than $13 billion in profits in the second quarter of this year

In their letter, the elected officials address the boss Mark Zuckerberg directly and remind him that he has apologized to the parents of victims of the excesses of the networks, including “Online exploitation, harassment and drugs”, during a hearing in Congress in early 2024.

Yet, they insist, every time they have tried to establish better protections, particularly in terms of confidentiality, "We encountered friction and opposition from Meta."

The company's success is largely based on personalization algorithms, which target users with content and ads they're likely to enjoy. Meta earned more than $13 billion in profits in the second quarter of this year.

"If this personalization you provide pushes illicit drug ads to vulnerable Americans, it is difficult for us to believe that you are not complicit in the trafficking.", assert the elected officials.