The National Crime Prevention Council, or NCPC, called on the Justice Department investigate social media platforms such as Snapchat, which are allegedly being used to sell drugs like fentanyl to kids.
In a letter to the Justice Department, NCPC Executive Director Paul DelPonte said the fentanyl crisis is claiming too many lives, prompting the attorney general to step in.
“Social media platforms bear some responsibility for these deaths,” DelPonte said. “Companies have failed to create safe online communities and are turning a blind eye to surveillance tools they routinely employ to collect personal information to stop drug dealers. Snap, Inc. is of particular concern.”
He went on to say that Snapchat is a “digital open-air drug market” that allows dealers to advertise and distribute fake pills to tweens and teens who are unsuspecting and that they may be lured into obtaining dangerous and deadly drugs.
“The platform gives drug dealers the ability to hide behind encrypted technology and posts that disappear from public view within 24 hours or less,” DelPonte said. “This is not protection of free speech. It is aiding and abetting of the worst kinds of criminal acts.”
He then requested, on behalf of the families who lost members to the fentanyl epidemic, that the Justice Department open an investigation into the trade and business practices of Snap, Inc. and possibly other social media companies.
NCPC reached out to the DOJ because the sale of drugs violate narcotics laws as well as trade, copyrights, trademarks and other felonies.
While the drugs are not being sold on the streets, the dealers are allegedly using technology to sell them.
DelPonte told the DOJ that in the time it takes to read the letter, someone will die from fentanyl poisoning because they purchased a fake pill on a social media platform like Snapchat.
“The inescapable fact is that some of the nation’s most popular social media platforms are being used as a sophisticated 21st Century supply chain to sell drugs,” he said. “This can and needs to stop.”
The DOJ did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the letter and issue at hand.
According to Snap, Inc. Vice President of Global Public Policy Jennifer Stout, the platform is addressing the problem.
“Fentanyl poisoning is one of the leading causes of death for young people in the U.S., and we are unwavering in our efforts to combat this devastating epidemic,” Stout said. “We deploy advanced technology to proactively detect and remove drug dealers from our platform, and work with experts to educate our community about the dangers of counterfeit pills laced with fentanyl. Our support for law enforcement investigations has helped bring dealers to justice. Ending fentanyl deaths will require a sustained effort and partnership across industry, government, and the nonprofit sector and we will continue to do everything we can to tackle this national crisis.”
