Facebook vice president of global policy management Monika Bickert responded to a story by Elizabeth Dwoskin for The Washington Post detailing the prevalence of illegal drug sales on Instagram.
Dwoskin wrote that searching the Facebook-owned photo- and video-sharing network for hashtags such as #oxy, #percocet, #painkillers, #painpills, #oxycontin, #adderall and #painrelief surfaced “thousands of posts by a mash-up of people grappling with addiction, those bragging about their partygoing lifestyle and enticements from drug dealers.”
She added that following the accounts of those dealers, or even liking a post from one of their accounts, spurred Instagram’s algorithm to serve more drug-related posts, and even to suggest new hashtags to follow, such as #xansforsale.
In addition, Dwoskin pointed out that ads from large brands such as Target, Chase and Procter & Gamble appeared alongside those posts selling illegal drugs.
Bickert
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