Over 450 ads for cocaine and other illegal drugs have been found on Instagram and Facebook, but they have yet to be removed



Meta's

advertising policy states that 'Meta's technology has the discretion to prohibit the placement of ads that promote the sale or use of illegal or recreational drugs or other unsafe substances, products, or supplements.' However, it has been reported that more than 450 ads that violated this policy were posted on Instagram and Facebook between March and June 2024.

TTP - Meta Allows Drug Ads Selling Everything from Opioids to Cocaine
https://www.techtransparencyproject.org/articles/meta-allows-drug-ads-selling-everything-from-opioids-to-cocaine

Exclusive | Meta Has Run Hundreds of Ads for Cocaine, Opioids and Other Drugs - WSJ
https://www.wsj.com/tech/meta-cocaine-opioids-ads-dea8e0fc



A review by the Wall Street Journal found dozens of ads selling illegal drugs, including cocaine and prescription opioids. The ads featured pictures of prescription drug bottles, piles of pills, and bricks of cocaine, and some even featured a yellow powder shaped like the illegal drug

dimethyltryptamine , or DMT.



In addition,

the Tech Transparency Project (TTP), a nonprofit organization that investigates online platforms, analyzed Meta's ad library from March 1 to June 14, 2024. During the investigation, TTP searched for drug names such as 'OxyContin,' 'Oxycodone,' 'Vicodine,' 'Percocet,' 'Xanax,' 'Codeine,' and 'Pure Coke,' as well as the terms 'WhatsApp' and 't.me,' Telegram shortened links that are widely used by drug dealers.

The investigation uncovered more than 450 ads for illegal drugs in Meta's ad library. Searches for prescription drug names like 'OxyContin' turned up ads explicitly selling the drugs in question, while searches for 't.me' turned up ads displaying pills, powders, and crystals that appeared to be illegal drugs like ecstasy and cocaine.

Many of the ads found by the TTP contained no text, just links to Telegram accounts where drug dealers would list specific products and prices, and some even used emojis such as the '❄' symbol to refer to cocaine.



According to the TTP, users who click on links advertising illegal drugs are redirected to private Telegram group chats where dealers post pictures of the drugs they are selling, a menu of prices, and instructions on how to order them.

Katie Paul, director of TTP, said, 'There's no need for the dark web anymore. By simply posting ads on Instagram or Facebook, you can sell dangerous drugs and deceive people on a scale that was not possible on the dark web.' The Wall Street Journal criticized, 'Meta uses AI to moderate content, but it seems unable to moderate ads that redirect users to other platforms. Also, by using photos (instead of text) to introduce the drugs it sells, Meta's content moderation system is no longer working.'

Meanwhile, a Meta spokesperson said: 'We work with law enforcement to combat this type of illegal drug sales activity, and Meta has quadrupled the size of our safety and security team since 2016. Our systems are designed to proactively detect and police violating content, and have rejected hundreds of thousands of ads for violating our drug policies. We continue to invest resources to further improve our enforcement processes for this type of content.'



Meta also told The Wall Street Journal that it had 'disabled many of the drug ads discovered by The Wall Street Journal within 48 hours of publication.'

In response to this report, X's Elon Musk responded with '!!'


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in Web Service, Posted by log1r_ut