Given how people can post (almost) anything they want on social media platforms like Facebook and Twitter, it’s not surprising that many of them are using it as a marketplace of sorts. This has resulted in people using them to sell illegal goods, such as guns, as well as opioids.While Facebook and Twitter have measures in place to prevent and takedown such activity, it seems that they might not be doing enough. Or at least that’s according to the FDA who has since asked Facebook and Twitter to step up their efforts (via Bloomberg) in cracking down on illegal opioid sales.
According to the FDA, “Although the sale of prescription opioids without a valid prescription is illegal, the FDA continues to see these products in the packages we inspect. And we find offers to purchase opioids all over social media and the Internet, including Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Reddit, Google, Yahoo, and Bing.”
Their investigations also found that it was easy to find these opioids online where users could pay using credit cards or cryptocurrency and have it shipped anywhere throughout the US. According to FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb, “I’m concerned that social media companies, internet service providers (ISP) firms that host websites, and others in the internet ecosystem haven’t been proactive enough in rooting out these illegal offers to distribute opioids from their respective platforms. I think we can work with them to do much more to address this public health danger.”