Joco Today

U.S. Senator Roger Marshall, along with Senators Shaheen, Klobuchar, Grassley, and Durbin, have urged Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg to take action against advertisements for illicit drugs on Meta's platforms. The call comes in the form of a bipartisan letter which emphasizes the need for stricter measures to prevent such ads from appearing on social media.

The letter builds on the bipartisan Cooper Davis Act, named after a Kansas teenager who died from fentanyl poisoning. This act seeks to hold social media companies accountable for reporting illicit drug activities to law enforcement. The Senators stated: “The United States is in the midst of a drug epidemic, with more than 100,000 Americans dying from overdoses last year, and an alarming amount of these drugs are sold online.”

A report by the Tech Transparency Project revealed that Meta has hosted numerous advertisements on Facebook and Instagram that direct users to illegal drug marketplaces. In response to this finding, the letter urges Zuckerberg to support the Cooper Davis Act and take swift action.

The Senators further commented: “When presented with these disturbing findings, Meta took down some advertisements off its platforms. However, Meta’s refusal to prevent illicit drug advertisements...is particularly alarming.”

Cooper Davis was a Johnson County teen who died after consuming a pill laced with fentanyl. Following his death, his family started "Keepin’ Clean for Coop," a non-profit aimed at raising awareness about drug dangers.

The Cooper Davis Act proposes that social media companies should collaborate more actively with federal agencies to combat illegal drug sales online. This would provide essential data for law enforcement agencies at all levels to tackle fake fentanyl-laced pills and prosecute offenders targeting youth.