Meta Has Collected Money and Shown Ads for Drugs on Facebook, Instagram - WSJ

(MSN) Meta has been running ads on Facebook and Instagram that take users to online marketplaces for illegal drugs and has continued to collect revenue from such ads that violate policies, the Wall Street Journal reported on Wednesday.

The company was found running dozens of ads marketing illegal substances such as cocaine, psychedelics, and prescription opioids, the report said. Months earlier, the Journal reported that the company was facing a federal investigation over its ads for illicit substances.

The report said WSJ in July found ads that show photos of prescription drug bottles, piles of pills or bricks of cocaine, and even a photo of a razorblade and a yellow powder arranged to spell out “DMT,” among other things.

The social media giant uses AI tools to moderate content but hasn’t been successful in stymieing drug ads, which often redirect users to other platforms where they can buy them. Meta has also been running a relatively smaller content moderation team after layoffs, and the use of photos in drug ads somehow bypasses the company's moderation checks in place.

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