By Louise Matsakis and Kate Snow -
NBC News
The parent company of messaging app Snapchat announced Tuesday that it is taking more steps to curb drug trafficking through its platform.
One of them will be to make it difficult for users to find the accounts of those under 17 years of age.
This move comes at a time when drug overdoses are on the rise in the United States, in part due to the proliferation of the powerful opioid fentanyl.
[YouTube, TikTok, and Snapchat also under fire for detrimental impact on minors]
An investigation by our sister network NBC News published in October found that Snapchat was linked to the sale of fentanyl-laced pills that killed teens and young adults in more than a dozen states.
Following the report, Snap, the service's parent company, announced that it has upgraded its automated systems for detecting illegal drugs, hired more employees to handle requests from law enforcement, and developed an educational portal focused on the dangers of fentanyl and the pills. falsified.
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Now the company announces that it will take its efforts even further.
In a blog post, Snap says that to “protect 13- to 17-year-olds,” it has changed its friend referral feature, called Quick Add.
It will no longer suggest users add accounts belonging to minors unless they have "a certain number of mutual friends with that person."
The tweak will, in effect, make it harder for strangers to befriend teens they don't know on Snapchat.
"Snapchat is not ideal for meeting new people," Jacqueline Beauchere, Snap's global head of platform security, explained in an interview.
"It was designed to communicate with people you already know, your real-life friends," he added.
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Samuel Chapman, the father of a 16-year-old boy who overdosed last year after taking fentanyl pills bought on Snapchat, believes the change will fail to stop drug trafficking on the app.
“All of these things are easy for drug dealers and easy for children,” he said.
"What I find with Snap Inc. is that they advertise band-aid after band-aid, but at the end of the day, you can still go online and get drugs in seconds," he said.
The SnapChat logo on a smartphone with a stock index chart in the background. Budrul Chukrut / SOPA Images/LightRocket via Gett
Chapman wants Snap and other social media companies to work together on a solution to combat drug activity across platforms.
In October, Snap said it was working with the public health data company S-3 to scan the internet for drug dealers who may be promoting their Snapchat accounts on other websites.
Snap also announced Tuesday that it is partnering with two nonprofits that will provide resources to Snapchat users on the app, Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America and Truth Initiative, a group focused on keeping youth from using nicotine.
Nonprofit groups will offer educational content about the harm of drugs on Heads Up, Snapchat's educational portal within the app.
It already includes information from advocacy groups like Song for Charlie, a nonprofit started by the parents of a 22-year-old who died after taking a fentanyl pill in 2020.
[This 'influencer' posed on Instagram next to her father's coffin. But I was not prepared for the reaction of the networks]
“We are sounding the alarm.
Parents and teens need to understand the grim reality that is spreading across online platforms, including Snapchat.
These deadly counterfeit drugs masquerading as prescription drugs are out there, and they're available,” Beauchere said.
Snap claims on its blog that it now proactively detects 88% of the drug-related content it finds on Snapchat, while the rest is reported by users.
The company says that when it detects drug trafficking activity, it bans the users who shared it and uses technology to prevent them from creating other accounts.
In some cases, refer banned accounts to law enforcement for investigation.
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Snap has also announced that it has expanded its police operations team by 74%.
But he did not specify the number of employees he had hired.
Some parents of children who overdosed on fentanyl pills bought on Snapchat have criticized the company for being slow to respond to inquiries from law enforcement.
Snap said on Tuesday that it had improved its response times by 85% in the past year, from months to a few weeks on average.
[
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“Our goal of ridding Snapchat of drug dealers and drug content is not going to be achieved overnight.
Significant progress takes time,” Beauchere explained.
"We are aware that our work may never be finished," he added.