Google, Meta Among Firms Contacted Over Fentanyl Crisis

Image Credit: Reuters

 

President-elect Donald Trump's transition team has invited executives from major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft, Meta Platforms, Snap, and TikTok, to a mid-December meeting to address the issue of online drug sales, The Information reported on Sunday.

The invitation, reportedly sent by a representative of Jim Carroll, Trump’s former drug czar, and the transition team, aims to discuss the companies' priorities and challenges in combating the online sale of drugs, according to a source familiar with the correspondence.

None of the invited companies or Trump's team immediately responded to Reuters' request for comments.

Trump has pledged to pressure Mexico to crack down on fentanyl trafficking, which has caused significant fatalities in the U.S. He has also threatened tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada if efforts to curb fentanyl trafficking and illegal immigration fall short.

In a Truth Social post in November, Trump announced plans for a nationwide advertising campaign to raise awareness about the dangers of fentanyl.

Earlier this year, scrutiny over tech companies' roles in facilitating drug sales intensified. In March, U.S. prosecutors investigated Meta's platforms, Facebook and Instagram, to determine whether they profited from drug-related activities. In January, eBay agreed to pay $59 million and strengthen compliance measures to resolve allegations by the U.S. Department of Justice that it failed to prevent the sale of counterfeit drug-making devices, including those producing fentanyl-laced pills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Paraphrasing text from "Reuters" all rights reserved by the original author.