The FBI and Justice Department are reportedly investigating Snapchat’s involvement in spreading fentanyl-containing pills, fueling a spike in fatal overdoses among young people.
Investigators have contacted the families of children who died after consuming fentanyl to investigate links between their social media accounts and their dealers, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.
Subpoenaed Snapchat posts indicate that a number of teens thought they were buying prescription painkillers like Percoset, the outlet reported. But they would have been sold pure fentanyl – of which only two milligrams are enough to kill.
The Justice Department and the FBI declined to comment on the report.
A Snap spokesperson told CNET the company is committed to addressing the fentanyl poisoning crisis, including shutting down dealer accounts and blocking search results for drug-related terms. .
“We will continue to do everything we can to fight this outbreak,” the spokesperson said, “including working with other technology companies, public health agencies, law enforcement, families and non-profit organizations.
The company also highlighted Family Center, a new tool that lets parents see all the accounts their teens communicate with on Snapchat and report any accounts of concern.
Parents of children who died of fentanyl poisoning protest outside Snap headquarters in 2021.
Patrick T. Fallon/AFP via Getty Images
Last month, the National Crime Prevention Council called on federal authorities to investigate Snapchat “as the platform of choice for fentanyl traffickers.”
Snapchat’s disappearing messages and encrypted technology make it particularly attractive to vendors, the organization said.
“Drug traffickers are using American innovation to sell deadly products,” CNPC Director Paul DelPonte said in an open letter to U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland. “In about the same time as it takes to read this letter, someone will die from fentanyl poisoning because they bought a fake pill on a social media platform like Snapchat. »
From 2019 to 2021, overdose deaths among Americans aged 10 to 19 rose 109%, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, with illicitly manufactured fentanyl accounting for 84% of those deaths.
Snapchat has more than 89 million users in the United States, nearly half (48%) of whom are between the ages of 15 and 25.
Its parent company, Snap, removed more than 270,000 pieces of content in the first half of last year for violating illegal drug policies, according to a transparency report. This represents less than 5% of drug-related content reported to the company during this period.
On Wednesday, the House Energy and Commerce Committee discussed the role of tech companies in the fentanyl crisis.
Laura Marquez-Garrett of the Social Media Victims Law Center, who was scheduled to speak at the roundtable, told Bloomberg that “the death of American children from fentanyl poisoning is not a social media issue – it’s is a Snapchat problem”.
Continue reading: Snapchat says it’s cracking down on drug deals on the app
