Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., during an interview on “The Circuit with Emily Chang” at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, U.S., on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A Republican congressman criticized Metadata on Thursday over what lawmakers called an inadequate response to concerns about illegal drug advertising on Facebook and Instagram.
Michigan state representative Tim Walberg described a letter sent by Meta to a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday as “unacceptable,” claiming the company failed to address specific questions politicians sent to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. in August.
Questions for Meta focused on recent report from The Wall Street Journal and non profit The Tech Transparency Project (TTP) has revealed a rise in Facebook and Instagram ads that direct users to third-party services where they can buy prescription drugs and recreational drugs like cocaine. Lawmakers plan to ask a list of 15 questions to determine how prevalent illegal drug ads are on Meta’s apps, how many views and interactions the ads receive, how many minors interact with the ads, and what actions Meta has taken against the groups responsible.
“Meta’s response not only ignores most of the questions raised in our letter, but also refuses to acknowledge that these illegal drug ads were approved and monetized by Meta and allowed to run on their platform,” Walberg said in a statement. “This is unacceptable. Meta must be held accountable for its negligence and the resulting impact on its users, especially children and young people.”
Meta declined to comment.
In a letter to lawmakers, Meta’s vice president of global regulatory strategy Rachel Lieber said the company shares lawmakers’ concerns “about the threat to public safety and health posed by the opioid epidemic.”
“We know this problem affects many Americans, often with tragic consequences, which is why combating online drug trafficking is bigger than any single platform,” Lieber said in the letter, obtained by CNBC. “At Meta, we remain committed to playing a key role in the solution.”
Lieber explained in the letter that Meta’s policy “prohibits the buying and selling of illegal drugs on our apps” and that the company has a variety of measures and resources to “detect and remove drug-related content that violates our policies.”
TTP Director Katie Paul said in a statement that Meta “has repeatedly dodged direct questions from members of Congress, the media, and the public about the hundreds of illegal drug ads on its platform.”
“Meta is trying to shift blame and promote a ‘whole of society’ approach,” Paul said. Meta is “benefiting from demonstrating paid amplification to drug trafficking sites that would have no reach without Meta’s advertising platform.”
Walberg’s comments came after Zuckerberg, during a live podcast taping in San Francisco, said Meta should respond more forcefully “when people make allegations about the impact of the tech industry or our company” without any factual basis.
“One of the things that I look back on and regret is that I think we accepted other people’s views on some things that they claimed we did wrong or took responsibility for things that I don’t think we actually did,” Zuckerberg said at the event on Tuesday.
Read Meta’s letter to lawmakers below:
