|
veggie

Registered: 07/25/04
Posts: 17,538
|
Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl
#28137146 - 01/12/23 07:43 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl January 12, 2023 - 9News
THORNTON, Colo. — A lawsuit filed on behalf of eight families across the country, including one in Colorado, accuses the social messaging app Snapchat of facilitating the sale of deadly fentanyl-laced pills.
The suit, filed Jan. 3 in California, alleges that "Snap’s products have encouraged, enabled, and facilitated the illegal and deadly drug sales of counterfeit pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl to minors and young adults."
Those features include Snapchat's disappearing messages, "My Eyes Only" and "Snap Map" features, the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit was filed by the Social Media Victims Law Center on behalf of the families of eight teenagers and young adults who, the suit says, died after taking fentanyl-laced pills purchased from drug dealers connected to them by Snapchat. One of those victims was Max Osterman of Thornton, who was 18 when he died in February 2021.
The lawsuit says Osterman died of fentanyl poisoning after taking a pill sold to him by a Snapchat dealer. It details Osterman's use of Snapchat and says that "Snap also then began connecting drug dealers to Max via its public profile settings, user recommendation algorithm, and mapping and location features."
"These are common tools utilized by Snapchat dealers to find teens, and that is precisely what happened to Max while he was still in high school," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit says on Jan. 31, 2021, Osterman bought what he believed to be Percocet from a Snapchat dealer. Osterman died Feb. 3 after taking a pill that dealer sold to him, which contained lethal amounts of fentanyl, the lawsuit says.
"This is someone Max did not know outside of Snapchat, and with whom he would not have connected but for Snapchat," the lawsuit says.
The lawsuit also says that as of July 7, 2022, the dealer appeared to still have a Snapchat account. Snapchat said when they identify drug dealers on the platform, they ban their accounts and take steps to block them from creating new ones.
"Snap’s product is specifically designed to attract both children and illicit adult activity," the lawsuit says. "Its foundational product feature is disappearing messages, which draws in both minors interested in evading parental oversight and drug dealers interested in engaging with vulnerable minors without detection."
Snap, Inc. released the following statement in response to the lawsuit:
"The trafficking of fake prescription pills containing fentanyl is an urgent national crisis. We are devastated that these counterfeit drugs have taken the lives of so many people, and our hearts go out to families who have suffered unimaginable losses. We are committed to bringing every resource to bear to help fight this national crisis, both on Snapchat and across the tech industry overall.
“While we can’t comment specifically on active litigation, we can share all the progress we have made in this area. We use cutting-edge technology to proactively find and shut down drug dealers’ accounts, and we block search results for drug-related terms, instead redirecting Snapchatters to resources from experts about the dangers of fentanyl. We have also expanded our support for law enforcement investigations, promoted in-app educational videos warning about the dangers of counterfeit pills that have been viewed over 260 million times on Snapchat, and are partnering with the Ad Council, non-profit organizations, and other platforms on an unprecedented national public awareness campaign that launched in October.”
Snap said since last fall, they have seen a decline in community-reported content related to drug sales. They said in September 2021, more than 23% of drug-related reports from Snapchatters contained content specifically related to sales. As of last month, they said, that number was at 3.3%.
They said they also partner with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram, to share signals of illicit drug-related content and activity.
|
Holybullshit
Stranger
Registered: 01/06/19
Posts: 1,576
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: veggie]
#28139054 - 01/14/23 06:40 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
The suit, filed Jan. 3 in California, alleges that "Snap’s products have encouraged, enabled, and facilitated the illegal and deadly drug sales of counterfeit pills containing lethal doses of fentanyl to minors and young adults."
So have cellphones.
|
TheShroomanizer
Stranger-Danger


Registered: 06/12/09
Posts: 1,571
Loc: The Swamp
Last seen: 1 year, 25 days
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: Holybullshit]
#28139255 - 01/14/23 09:56 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
For someone who is truly addicted, you could go as far as to say “every part of an addicts life helps to facilitate obtaining and using said drug”.
-------------------- Trading Prints -Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could listen twice as much as we speak-
|
Yokal
Stranger

Registered: 09/17/20
Posts: 602
Last seen: 1 day, 1 hour
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: TheShroomanizer]
#28139970 - 01/14/23 05:56 PM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
these should get tossed you don't need insurance to use snapchat
|
durian_2008
Cornucopian Eating an Elephant



Registered: 04/02/08
Posts: 18,037
Loc: Raccoon City
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: Yokal]
#28140973 - 01/15/23 10:25 AM (1 year, 4 months ago) |
|
|
I don't feel as sorry for the deceased when they do know what they are getting.
But, how is their system supposed to auto flag what is mislabeled?
|
viraldrome



Registered: 09/21/18
Posts: 4,224
Loc: Parts Unknown
Last seen: 9 hours, 32 minutes
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: veggie]
#28141630 - 01/15/23 05:34 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Quote:
veggie said: "Snap also then began connecting drug dealers to Max via its public profile settings, user recommendation algorithm, and mapping and location features."
.
I disagree with the idea the platform is to blame when people buy drugs online. Its not up to Snapchat to stop crime on their platform, it's up to law enforcement. Should the 7-11 across the street by sued because drug sales happen in front of it? I wish my internet algorithms introduced me to people selling Ketamine. I'd probably write it off as a scam though, people should buy drugs from vendors with a good track record of happy customers not any fool who messages you online.
-------------------- Lysergamides I have tried so far: 1P-LSD, 1cP-LSD, ALD-52, AL-LAD, LSZ, ETH-LAD, MIPLA, EIPLA, 1cP-AL-LAD
|
Yokal
Stranger

Registered: 09/17/20
Posts: 602
Last seen: 1 day, 1 hour
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: viraldrome] 1
#28143095 - 01/16/23 03:17 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
snap chat should be forced to pay for 700million dollars in drug test kit advertisements
|
nooneman


Registered: 04/24/09
Posts: 14,700
Loc: Utah
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: veggie]
#28143156 - 01/16/23 03:51 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
Kids these days and their snapchat fentanyl. Back in my day, you bought weed from some dude you barely know who you met on the first day of some random college class who was like "hey man, want some green?"
|
sir_spins_alot
Feels like a stranger



Registered: 04/04/10
Posts: 640
Loc: United States
Last seen: 10 months, 12 days
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: nooneman] 1
#28144729 - 01/17/23 04:34 PM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
When are these fucking parents going to take responsibility for their children as their children should themselves. Today everything else is someone else's fault!
People be responsible. There is literally an electric book called the internet that can give you all the info on the drug you choose to ingest along with drug test strips to make sure you know what your getting!
--------------------
|
TheShroomanizer
Stranger-Danger


Registered: 06/12/09
Posts: 1,571
Loc: The Swamp
Last seen: 1 year, 25 days
|
Re: Lawsuit accuses Snapchat of facilitating sale of deadly fentanyl [Re: sir_spins_alot]
#28145376 - 01/18/23 02:50 AM (1 year, 3 months ago) |
|
|
“And I gave my heart to know wisdom, and madness and folly, and perceived that this too is vexation of spirit. For in much wisdom is much grief...and he that increaseth knowledge, increaseth sorrow.”
-------------------- Trading Prints -Nature gave us one tongue and two ears so we could listen twice as much as we speak-
|
|