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One Woman Got Facebook to Police Opioid Sales On Instagram (archive)
Eileen Carey says she has regularly reported Instagram accounts selling opioids to the company for three years, with few results. Last week, Carey confronted two executives of Facebook, which owns Instagram, about the issue on Twitter. Since then, Instagram removed some accounts, banned one opioid-related hashtag and restricted the results for others.
Searches for the hashtag #oxycontin on Instagram now show no results. Other opioid-related hashtags, such as #opiates, #fentanyl, and #narcos, surface a limited number of results along with a message stating, "Recent posts from [the hashtag] are currently hidden because the community has reported some content that may not meet Instagram's community guidelines." Some accounts that appeared to be selling opioids on Instagram also were removed.
The moves come amid increased government concern about the role of tech platforms in opioid abuse, and follow years of media reports about the illegal sale of opioids on Instagram and Facebook, from the BBC, Venturebeat, CNBC, Sky News and others. Following the BBC probe in 2013, Instagram blocked searches of terms associated with the sale of illegal drugs.
[...] Carey is now the CEO of Glassbreakers, a startup maker of software to support workforce diversity. But she worked on illegal drug sales in her previous job at MarkMonitor, a company that protects brands like pharmaceutical companies from online counterfeiting, piracy, and fraud. In a Mar. 30 tweet to Rob Leathern, Facebook's director of product management, Carey wrote, "The historical response that users can report abuse and moderators will review hasn't changed in 4 years." She asked him to "Please hold leadership accountable."
#StopSnitching.
Also at CNN.
See also: Facebook Needs to Do More to Stop the Online Opioid Market, Says FDA Chief
Related: Senate Investigators Google Their Way to $766 Million of Fentanyl
U.S. Surgeon General Urges More Americans to Carry Naloxone
U.S. Life Expectancy Continues to Decline Due to Opioid Crisis
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday April 09 2018, @08:51AM (3 children)
Seems to me Carey might actually have just been doing her job for most of the last few years, to whit reporting people pushing counterfeit pharma for the clients of MarkMonitor. Or it's possible that she just has a bee in her bonnet about opiate abuse in general for some reason (controversy over over prescription aside, some of it is legit prescribed medication, right?). There's a big difference between just trying to shutdown people pushing fake - and possibly dangerous - knockoffs and to shutdown everyone, including legitimate pharmacies, and the TFS doesn't seem to make that clear (I've not read all of the actual articles). I know prescribed pharma can be expensive in the US, but unless you really, really, can't afford it and are desperate for the meds, is rolling the dice with knock-offs really worth the gamble?
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: 2) by Gaaark on Monday April 09 2018, @10:11AM
"Moss...scene one of the movie Carrie!"
--- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 09 2018, @10:36AM (1 child)
Thinking out loud here, actually. But, I don't think that they are selling knockoffs, or, fake drugs. I think they are selling legitimate drugs, outside of legitimate supply lines. Kinda like, you want an authentic AK-47. There is no legitimate, legal way for you to buy one (in the US), but you want the real thing. So, you go outside the legitimate gun dealers, and purchase under the table.
Of course, when you go outside the legitimate supply channels, you can purchase as much as you can afford, and take as much of your drug as you like. There is no medical supervision, no medical advice. The drugs are wide open for recreational use and abuse.
The price may or may not be significantly higher if you get a prescription, and have it filled at a pharmacy. But, theoretically at least, prescription drugs are less prone to abuse.
If my take on all of this is wrong, someone please enlighten me.
A MAN Just Won a Gold Medal for Punching a Woman in the Face
(Score: 2) by zocalo on Monday April 09 2018, @11:03AM
UNIX? They're not even circumcised! Savages!
(Score: -1, Offtopic) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 09 2018, @09:49AM (7 children)
So did Ethanol_fluid hurt his back, or something, and has been shadow-perma-ip-banned for opioid use? What is going on!!!!
(Score: -1, Redundant) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 09 2018, @10:17AM (2 children)
Hmmm, Ethanol_fueled inquiries are being persistently modded -1 offtopic. Is there some Letter from some agency that you can't tell us about, SoylentNews? Blink twice for "no", mod this offtopic for "yes".
(Score: 2) by Runaway1956 on Monday April 09 2018, @10:43AM
Why don't you click on Ethanol's journal link, and learn all about Ethanol's angst? Ooops - apologies - his journal is no longer available. I suppose he deleted it, or maybe his ban removed it. Ehhh - discussion here - https://soylentnews.org/~archfeld/journal/3132 [soylentnews.org]
I don't think the NSA has censored our little drunk buddy - but you can't know for sure in this day and age.
Whatever, you were modded offtopic because you are off topic. Funny how that works, sometimes.
A MAN Just Won a Gold Medal for Punching a Woman in the Face
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2018, @05:42AM
Whew! Never been so glad for a "redundant" mod! But, hey, wait a minute. . . !!!
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Monday April 09 2018, @10:52AM (1 child)
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday April 10 2018, @05:45AM
You intrigue me, FatPhil! Who do you think it is that you can thus identify?
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Monday April 09 2018, @08:04PM (1 child)
I dunno, I always would mod him up because people troll mod him excessively.
(Score: 2) by PartTimeZombie on Monday April 09 2018, @11:37PM
In his case I don't agree he was modded troll excessively at all, the racist crap was just low effort rubbish.
Maybe we need -1 Arsehole mod.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by FatPhil on Monday April 09 2018, @11:14AM
Great minds discuss ideas; average minds discuss events; small minds discuss people; the smallest discuss themselves