Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. News

Whistleblowers say Facebook hasn’t addressed illegal drug sales on platform

Allison Matyus
By

A group of whistleblowers reportedly filed a complaint against Facebook to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), claiming that the social network is ignoring drug-related activity on its platform. 

The complaint filed on Tuesday, May 26, presents alleged evidence of drug-related crimes on Facebook, such as drugs being posted for sale, according to The Washington Post. 

Related Videos

Evidence in the complaint includes drug dealers using hashtags such as #buydrugsonline on both Facebook and Instagram, and even affirmation that drugs were bought and sold using Facebook Pay. 

The group of whistleblowers — which consists of former Facebook employees, journalists, former employees of cybersecurity firms, and more — claim that Facebook is aware of the blatant drug content on its platform but isn’t doing anything about it.

A former Facebook content moderator said in the complaint that moderation policies for drug-related content were lax compared to other topics moderators look out for. 

“Compared to hate speech, they did not seem to worry about drugs at all,” the moderator’s statement reads in the complaint.

Facebook’s current policy on drugs states that, “To encourage safety and compliance with common legal restrictions, we prohibit attempts by individuals, manufacturers, and retailers to purchase, sell, or trade non-medical drugs, pharmaceutical drugs, and marijuana.”

In a blog post from 2018 responding to similar accusations, Facebook said that it blocks drug-related terms and hashtags so people can’t search it and work with outside organizations and experts to understand the latest tactics. 

“Our business is advertising, and no advertiser wants their ads shown alongside these types of posts. So we are investing heavily in more people and better technology to create a safe place for everyone,” wrote Monika Bickert, Facebook’s vice president of global policy management, in the blog. 

Joe Osborne, a Facebook spokesperson, told Digital Trends that Facebook has always disclosed any content risks to the SEC.

“We can’t comment on the substance of a complaint we haven’t seen, but we’ve regularly disclosed potential risks related to content in our SEC filings, including at least four times in the last year.”

While this is the first time Facebook has been in hot water over possible drug-related crimes, it’s not the first time the social media giant has dealt with an SEC filing. 

Last year, on the heels of a historic $5 billion settlement with the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), Facebook was hit with a $100 million fine from the SEC for the misuse of users’ information.

Editors' Recommendations

Topics
Facebook says no thanks to Apple, new feature will only be on Android platforms
facebook-for-android

Facebook has made a concerted effort to get on the good side of big media companies lately. Mark Zuckerberg himself wants to make sure they are as successful as possible, so he wants to help them sell subscriptions to their publications. And Facebook doesn’t even want a slice of the revenue.

Facebook’s new subscription tool for mobile phones will roll out sometime in the next few weeks. It allows various publishers, such as the Washington Post or Hearst, to set two different types of paywalls around their articles. One is a “metered” paywall, which many publications use already. After reading a certain numbers of articles, you’re directed to their subscription page. The other is a “freemium” version, where publishers can set firewalls around individual articles. In both cases, the goal is to get you to subscribe. Facebook has already said it wouldn’t take any of the revenue generated, and that it won't capture customer data that results from the transaction.

Read more
Samsung says that it hasn’t given up on Android Wear just yet
samsung done with android wear version 1464095688 gear s2 review 8824

It's no secret that Samsung has been moving away from an Android dependency, especially when it comes to wearables -- the company has developed its own operating system, called Tizen, which it has been using on the Gear series of watches. If you're like me, however, you've been hoping that Samsung has an Android Wear device or two up its sleeve. Unfortunately, it doesn't.

A report from Fast Company cited Samsung executives as saying that the company has no Android Wear devices in development or even in planning. Now, Samsung itself has clarified that statement, basically saying that it hasn't made anything official as far as what it will or will not do with Android Wear.

Read more
Why hasn’t Hulk received another solo movie? Ask Marvel, says a new report
oscar effects avengers hulk fire

Given the tremendous success of Marvel's cinematic universe so far, there's been no shortage of questions regarding the future of the Avengers' green Goliath, The Hulk, and whether he'd ever get another solo movie. While rumors have suggested that there might be some issues with the rights to the character, a new report confirms that Hulk's big-screen future is securely in the hands of Marvel Studios.

Back in April, Marvel franchise actor Mark Ruffalo made headlines when he indicated that the reason we haven't seen a Hulk solo movie since he took over the character in The Avengers is due to Universal Pictures still owning the rights to the character. Not so, according to a new report published by Forbes that confirms Marvel's ownership of the film production rights to Hulk and clarifies exactly what Universal does own, and why it is Marvel's decision -- and Marvel's decision alone -- not to let Hulk fly (or rather leap) solo again.

Read more