Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Meta Platforms Inc., during an interview on “The Circuit with Emily Chang” at Meta’s headquarters in Menlo Park, California, USA, on Thursday, July 18, 2024.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images
A Republican congressman struck hard After on Thursday about what the lawmaker called an inadequate response to concerns about illegal drug ads on Facebook and Instagram.
Michigan Rep. Tim Wahlberg called a letter Meta sent to a bipartisan group of lawmakers Monday “unacceptable,” arguing the company failed to respond to specific questions politicians sent to CEO Mark Zuckerberg in August.
The questions to Meta focused on recent ones exhibitions from the Wall Street Journal and the nonprofit Tech Transparency Project (TTP) that revealed the proliferation of Facebook and Instagram ads directing users to third-party services where they could buy prescription pills and recreational drugs like cocaine. Lawmakers intended the list of 15 questions to help determine the prevalence of illegal drug ads on Meta’s apps, the number of views and interactions the ads received, how many minors engaged with them and what actions Meta has taken against responsible groups.
“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 platforms,” Walberg said. in a statement. “This is unacceptable. Meta must be held accountable for its negligence and the resulting impact on users, especially children and teenagers.”
Meta declined to comment.
In her letter to lawmakers, Meta’s vice president of Global Legal 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 results, which is why the fight against online drug trafficking is bigger than any platform,” Lieber said in the letter, obtained by CNBC. “At Meta, we remain committed to playing an important role in the solution.”
Lieber explained in the letter that Meta’s policies “prohibit the buying and selling of illegal drugs on our apps” and that the company has various measures and resources it uses “to identify and remove drug-related content that violates the policies us”.
Meta “has repeatedly sidestepped direct questions from members of Congress, the media and the public about the hundreds of illegal substance ads on its platform,” TTP director Katie Paul said in a statement.
“Metta is trying to deflect responsibility and promote a ‘whole of society’ approach,” Paul said. Meta “profits from proof of paid support to drug trafficking sites that would not be accessible without Meta’s advertising platforms.”
Walberg’s comments come after Zuckerberg, during a live podcast taping in San Francisco, said Meta should push back harder “when people make claims about the impact of the tech industry or our company” that don’t are based on no facts.
“One of the things that I look back on and regret is that I think we accepted other people’s view of some of the things that they claimed we were wrong about or were responsible for, I don’t think we were,” Zuckerberg said at the event. Tuesday.
Read Meta’s letter to MPs below:
