Janice R. Andrews
Nineteen members of Congress have just sent a letter to Mark Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, asking him to explain why Facebook and Instagram have allowed ads that promote illicit narcotics including ecstasy and cocaine. This immediate investigation is in response to a report published by the Tech Transparency Project (TTP) that found hundreds of advertisements on Meta’s platforms that promoted the sale of illicit narcotics in violation of community norms.
During its investigation, the TTP discovered over 450 advertisements on Facebook and Instagram, many of which were clearly showing prescription medication bottles, pill bottles, and even bricks of cocaine. Some of these advertisements circumvented Meta’s internal security measures by directing users to other platforms like Telegram. The transparency watchdog keeps giving updates; it even brought up a recent instance on X, the previous name for Twitter.
According to the letter, “What is especially heinous about this instance is that these ads were not user-generated content concealed on obscure corners of the web.” “Meta approved and monetized them with paid advertisements.” Congress is concerned that Meta’s internal systems did not identify or eliminate the information, even though it was obviously against the company’s standards. This statement emphasizes their concerns.
Congress has asked Zuckerberg to give in-depth details of how Meta upholds its policies against advertisements pertaining to drugs. They also want data on the effectiveness and reach of these advertisements, particularly on the number of views and interactions they received. The letter gives Meta till September 6th to reply.
A representative for Meta has responded by pointing media outlets to an earlier Wall Street Journal comment in which the business stated that it rejects “hundreds of thousands of ads” due to policy violations pertaining to drugs. Meta has stated that it intends to formally reply to the letter from Congress.
The state of affairs calls into doubt the efficacy of Meta’s ad-review procedures as well as the company’s capacity to maintain its community standards, particularly with regard to illicit and dangerous material. Now that politicians are engaged, Zuckerberg is under pressure to rectify these errors and take more decisive steps to stop future occurrences of these infractions.
