• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, June 14, 2022

An investigative report by NBC News Tuesday exposed how easy it is for social media users to buy dangerous illegal drugs via direct messaging on social media platforms including Instagram and Snapchat, and found major brand ads running adjacent to the drug-related posts.

While most big brands ostensibly have brand safety filters or people managing that process, the NBC News report found ads for Peloton, Disney+ and even a film being marketed by parent NBC Universal.

"Do you think advertisers know that there ads might be running around content that's advertising fentanyl pills," NBC News' Kate Snow asked Institute for Advertising Ethics COO Andrew Susman.

"There's always risk. There's no perfect filter," Susman replied, adding, "I believe that it will require more human active moderation.

"They've outsourced the editorial function to machines."

NBC News' Snow said Instagram had disabled the accounts of the suspected drug dealers she found, adding, "The sales of illicit drugs is prohibited by Snapchat and Instagram.

"Instagram has said, in part, it has developed technology to find and remove this content proactively.

"Snapchat said, in part, that it uses 'cutting edge technologies to proactively detect this type of content so we can shut down dealers' accounts.'

She closed by saying NBC News had reached out to the big brands advertising adjacent to the drug-related social media feeds and that they all declined to comment.