Fentanyl Deaths: Snapchat To Crack Down On Trafficking On The Platform, Seeking To Protect Minors

By Franca Quarneti via El Planteo.

Snapchat, the social network preferred by young people, announced that it will take measures to curb drug trafficking in the application.

Snap Inc SNAP, Snapchat's parent company, said it has improved its automated system for detecting illegal drugs and hired more employees to handle requests from law enforcement.

In addition, the social network changed its “Quick Add” friend recommendation function, so that it does not suggest underage users. This will make it difficult for strangers to add teens they don't know as friends.

“Snapchat is not ideal for finding new people. It was designed to communicate with people you already know, your real-life friends," said Jacqueline Beauchere, Global Head of Platform Safety at Snap.

Also, as reported by NBC News, the company partnered with two organizations that will offer educational content on the harm of drugs (Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and Truth Initiative).

Snapchat Seeks To Make It Difficult To Sell Drugs On Its Platform

What is the rationale behind these measures? An NBC News investigation published in October revealed that fentanyl pills that killed teens and young adults in more than a dozen states had been sold through Snapchat.

Drug overdoses are on the rise in the United States, in part due to waves of young people who think they are buying prescription pills (such as Percocet, OxyContin, or Xanax) and end up buying counterfeit pills with deadly doses of fentanyl, a synthetic opioid one hundred times stronger than morphine.

Meanwhile, parents of children who were victims of overdoses from fentanyl pills bought on the social network criticized the company. They allege that Snapchat is very slow to respond to inquiries from law enforcement.

In this regard, the company assured that its response times have improved by 85% in the last year, going from an average of months to a few weeks.

“Our goal of ridding Snapchat of drug dealers and drug content is not going to be achieved overnight. Significant progress takes time. We are aware that our work may never end”, concluded Beauchere.

Image Via El Planteo.