Snapchat is adding new features to cut down on the sale of fentanyl and other illegal drugs on the social media platform, the company announced on Thursday.
“We have heard devastating stories from families impacted by this crisis, including cases where fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills were purchased from drug dealers on Snapchat,” the app’s parent company, Snap, said in a blog post.
As Jeff Elder previously told Insider, social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram have emerged as quick and easy ways to buy illegal drugs for teenagers and young adults in particular. Insider found at least two dozen fentanyl-related deaths from 2020-2021 in which the dealer used Snapchat to sell the drug.
Drug dealers often use social media platforms to sell drugs, and they may list Snapchat accounts on their other social media profiles to arrange drug deals through the app’s disappearing messages. Snapchat also has a map feature that makes it easier for drug buyers and sellers to find each other, social-media and law enforcement experts previously told Insider.
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