Ketamine, MDMA (methylenedioxymethamphetamine), LSD, DMT, major visible intervention on the part of Meta, the parent company of these social networks.
This comes more than a year after the Decryptors reported that numerous illegal products, including drugs, were advertised on Meta’s platforms.
The phenomenon was reported to us in recent days by Dr. Marie-Ève Morin, a family doctor who works in mental health and addiction. Since clicking on one of these ads on her Facebook feed, she says she has been inundated with similar ads.
These social networks endorse these advertisements because they are paid to advertise them, denounces Dr. Morin. This concerns me because of the access it provides to young people. It’s offered to them, it “pops up” on their social networks, without them even having to search.
Several types of advertisements are circulating at the moment. Some of them only mention the product they are advertising, while others are more explicit, using terms like microdose
. Still others use images of well-known fictional characters, such as Darth Vader, from the Star Wars series.
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There are several types of advertisements for these websites. Some are quite explicit, while others advertise their products in veiled words.
Photo : Facebook
Either way, the ads violate Meta’s advertising rules (New window)which prohibit the promotion of the use of illicit or recreational drugs, or other dangerous substances, products or supplements
.
We use automated and, in some cases, manual checks to enforce our policies
states Meta in its advertising rules.
Double standards
Dr. Morin is also stunned that a publication that she put online on her personal profile to deplore the presence of these advertisements on Facebook was removed by Meta for having contravened its rules.
I took screenshots and made a post to denounce it. A few hours or days later, I was sent a message to tell me that I was suspected of trafficking illegal substances. I still found it special
she says.
Are artificial intelligence engines managing this? Because, obviously, it’s poor judgment.
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Dr. Marie-Ève Morin, family doctor working in mental health and addiction
Photo : Radio-Canada / Marie-Eve Cloutier
We tried unsuccessfully to get answers from Meta, although his spokesperson confirmed receiving our interview request.
The advertisements for illicit products that we reported to Meta last week are still online at the time of writing. Some have been active since the end of August.
Meta raked in more than $131.9 billion US (about $180 billion Canadian) in advertising revenue in 2023. This represents more than 97% of its revenue for the year.
