Mark Zuckerberg, chief government officer of Meta Platforms Inc., throughout an interview on “The Circuit with Emily Chang” at Meta headquarters in Menlo Park, California, US, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Pictures
A Republican congressman slammed Meta on Thursday over what the lawmaker referred to as an insufficient response to considerations about illicit drug ads on Fb and Instagram.
Michigan Rep. Tim Walberg characterised a letter despatched by Meta to a bipartisan group of lawmakers on Monday as “unacceptable,” claiming the corporate failed to deal with the particular questions the politicians despatched to CEO Mark Zuckerberg in August.
The inquiries to Meta centered round current reports from The Wall Avenue Journal and the nonprofit Tech Transparency Challenge (TTP) that exposed a proliferation of Fb and Instagram advertisements steering customers to third-party companies the place they may purchase prescription capsules and leisure medicine like cocaine. The lawmakers meant the listing of 15 questions to assist decide the prevalence of illicit drug advertisements on Meta’s apps, the quantity of views and interactions the advertisements obtained, what number of minors engaged with them and the actions Meta has taken in opposition to the accountable teams.
“Meta’s response not solely ignores many of the questions posed in our letter, but additionally refuses to acknowledge that these illicit drug advertisements had been permitted and monetized by Meta and allowed to run on their platforms,” Walberg stated in an announcement. “That is unacceptable. Meta should reply for its negligence and the ensuing affect on customers, particularly youngsters and teenagers.”
Meta declined to remark.
In its letter to lawmakers, Meta Vice President of World Authorized Technique Rachel Lieber stated that the corporate shares lawmakers’ considerations “concerning the public security and well being risk attributable to the opioid epidemic.”
“We all know this drawback impacts many People, usually with tragic outcomes, which is why preventing drug trafficking on-line is greater than any single platform,” Lieber stated within the letter, which was obtained by CNBC. “At Meta, we stay dedicated to taking part in an essential function within the resolution.”
Lieber defined within the letter that Meta’s insurance policies “prohibit shopping for and promoting illicit medicine throughout our apps” and that the corporate has varied measures and assets that it makes use of “to detect and take away drug-related content material that violates our insurance policies.”
Meta “has repeatedly skirted direct questions from members of Congress, the media, and the general public concerning the lots of of advertisements for illicit medicine on its platform,” TTP Director Katie Paul stated in an announcement.
“Meta tries to deflect blame and push a ‘complete of society’ strategy,” Paul stated. Meta is “taking advantage of proving paid amplification to drug trafficking websites that will not have the attain with out Meta’s promoting platforms.”
Walberg’s feedback come after Zuckerberg, throughout a stay podcast recording in San Francisco, stated Meta ought to push again more durable “when folks make allegations concerning the affect of the tech trade or our firm” that aren’t based in any truth.
“One of many issues that I look again on and remorse is I believe we accepted different folks’s view of a number of the issues that they had been asserting that we had been doing flawed or had been liable for that I do not really suppose we had been,” Zuckerberg stated on the occasion on Tuesday.
Learn Meta’s letter to lawmakers under:
