U.S. is investigating Meta for role in drug sales

Reports of drug and illicit ads on Meta

• Multiple users describe seeing blatant ads on Instagram and Facebook for MDMA, Schedule II meds (Adderall, opioids), counterfeit money, “cloned cards,” and nitrous oxide.
• Some report repeatedly flagging such ads or live streams of apparent drug dealing and being told they “don’t violate guidelines.”
• Linked investigations show open drug ads miscategorized as “Health/beauty,” “Medical service,” “Musician,” etc.; some wonder if they’re law-enforcement honeypots or mostly scams rather than real dealers (unclear).

Prescription, quasi‑legal, and “pill mill” advertising

• Many see heavy advertising for Viagra, ketamine clinics, testosterone, semaglutide weight‑loss drugs, and ADHD meds via quick telehealth flows.
• Some argue these can be legal and clinically rigorous; others describe perfunctory questionnaires and doctors nudging answers to justify prescriptions.
• Concerns that ad targeting is pushing people toward unnecessary medication rather than responding to existing demand.

Moderation quality, scale, and incentives

• Widespread perception that Meta’s reporting tools rarely lead to enforcement; users cite scam pages, hacked accounts, violent content, and war footage staying up.
• A participant working on ad “integrity” at a smaller platform says 100% blocking of bad content is impossible; others counter that human review of every ad, as with old newspapers, would catch nearly all but would kill current ad‑scale economics.
• Several argue Meta profits from not policing aggressively; others doubt any platform actually wants the bad publicity.

Comparisons with other platforms and services

• Twitter/X is described as heavily botted (sex bots, drug bots, stock‑ticker spam) both before and after ownership change; some say it’s worse now, others say it improved.
• WhatsApp, Signal, iMessage, Telegram, and even USPS are mentioned as major channels for drug trade.
• Users also point to scams and dangerous products on Amazon, YouTube finance scams, and illegal firearms‑adjacent ads (autosears, suppressor kits, drone munitions).

Law, Section 230, and platform liability

• Debate over whether Meta should be treated like a newspaper (liable for ads) or like a neutral “interactive service” under Section 230.
• One side says algorithmic feeds are de‑facto editorial, so immunity is outdated; others warn that weakening 230 would kill comment sections and small forums like HN.
• EU’s Digital Services Act is cited as forcing complaint handling for illegal content in Europe.

Broader drug policy and societal debate

• Several argue focusing on Meta misses deeper issues: pharma’s role in the opioid crisis, government complicity, economic roots of addiction, and the scale of legal harms like cigarettes.
• Strong undercurrent pushing drug legalization and regulation, claiming prohibition fails and carceral responses are worse than drug use itself; others point to visible misery in “open‑air drug markets” and worry decriminalization without strong services leads to public disorder.