The United States is investigating whether Meta has facilitated drug sales through its platforms: WSJ

Reuters

Prosecutors in Virginia are investigating whether Meta's social media platforms, the parent company of Facebook, facilitated and profited from the illegal sale of drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported this Saturday, citing documents and people familiar with the matter.

The prosecutors sent subpoenas last year and have been asking questions as part of an investigation, the report maintained, adding that they have also been requesting records related to drug content or the illicit sale of substances through Meta's platforms.

More: Pennsylvania shootings: three people dead and perpetrator on the run

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has also collaborated in the investigation, the newspaper added, noting that investigations do not always lead to criminal charges.

The newspaper quoted a Meta spokesperson saying in a statement: "The sale of illicit drugs goes against our policies and we work to find and remove this content from our services."

The prosecution and an FDA spokesperson declined to comment to the media. Meta, the FDA, and the Virginia Attorney General's office did not immediately respond to a request from Reuters for comment.

Meta's Global Affairs President, Nick Clegg, said in a post on social network X on Friday that Meta had joined the United States Department of State, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, and Snapchat to help disrupt the sale of synthetic drugs online and educate users about the associated risks.

More: Biden supports Senator Schumer in his proposal for elections in Israel after criticizing Netanyahu for his handling of the war in Gaza

Yesterday, Antony Blinken, United States Secretary of State, called for international unity in the face of the global threat posed by synthetic drugs, such as opioids, whose consumption is the leading cause of death in his country in the age group of 18 to 45 years.

"Deaths from overdoses of synthetic drugs are rapidly increasing. My message to this meeting is urgent. If we want to change the trajectory of this crisis, there is only one way to succeed and that is united," Blinken declared before the plenary of the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs in Vienna.

In 2022, overdoses killed nearly 110,000 people in the United States and most of the deaths were caused by fentanyl, a painkiller first synthesized in 1960 for medical purposes and that drug traffickers manufacture illegally.