Facebook shuts down drug hashtags on Instagram
Apr 8, 2018
Facebook, the parent company of Instagram, has cracked down on hashtags with drug names such as #fentanyl, #oxycontin, #opioids and more. A search on Saturday for #oxycontin came up with no results, while a search for #fentanyl or #xanax left a posts but also had the message that recent posts “are currently hidden because the community has reported some content that may not meet Instagram’s community guidelines.”
An Instagram spokesperson told CBS News their “community guidelines make it clear that buying or selling prescription drugs isn’t allowed on Instagramand we have zero tolerance when it comes to content that puts the safety of our community at risk.”
Instagram constantly monitors hashtag behavior.
The move comes just days after Food and Drug Administration commissioner Scott Gottlieb criticized social media companies for not doing enough to prevent their sites from being used to sell opioids.
Gottlieb said Wednesday the agency would be inviting the CEOs of major internet companies to a summit to discuss the tech industry’s role in the opioid crisis. Gottlieb said the agency found offers to purchase opioids on a number of social media sites, including Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and Reddit, according to Engadget.
“I know that internet firms are reluctant to cross a threshold, where they could find themselves taking on a broader policing role,” he said. “But these are insidious threats being propagated on these web platforms.”
Glassbreaks CEO Eileen Carey told Wired that she had confronted two executives from Facebook about the hashtags. On March 30, she tweeted at Rob Leathern, Facebook’s director of product management, about the issue. Leathern responded the next day saying the posts had been removed.
For complete story https://www.cbsnews.com/news/facebook-shuts-down-drug-hashtags-instagram-2018-04-07/