Snapchat Announces Change to Reduce Illegal Drug Sales
Snapchat Announces Change to Reduce Illegal Drug Sales
Is Drug Dealing on Snapchat Really a Problem?
Snapchat announced a change this week to its friend recommendation feature to make it more difficult for people selling illicit substances to connect with minors under 17, NBC News reports. One of the most popular social media platforms, Snapchat is a relatively new app that has taken the world by storm. As with any new technology, there are also some downsides to it. With Snapchat, people are finding new ways to commit crimes or engage in illegal activities. One of the most popular ways is by using snapchat to facilitate drug deals. Snapchat is an app that allows users to send pictures and videos to their friends for a maximum of 10 seconds. This might seem innocent at first, but there's a dark side to the app. Drug dealers are posting snaps of their drugs, like Xanax, fentanyl and MDMA, for users to contact them and make a buy later. Drug dealers like Snapchat because the photos and text will disappear after a few seconds (nothing really disappears in the digital world, though).
Snapchat Announces Changes to Halt Drug Dealing
Last fall, NBC News reported that teens and young adults in over a dozen states overdosed after buying fentanyl-laced pills on the popular app. The pills were sold as prescription medications such as Percocet, OxyContin or Xanax, but were counterfeits that contained fentanyl.
In a blog post, the company that owns Snapchat said it is changing its friend recommendation feature, called Quick Add. The feature will no longer suggest people add accounts belonging to minors unless they have a certain number of friends in common with that person. This change makes it more difficult for strangers to become friends on Snapchat with people they don't know.
"While we know that drug dealers seek to connect with potential customers on platforms outside of Snapchat, we want to do everything we can to keep minors from being discovered on Snapchat by people who may engage in illegal or harmful behavior," the company said.