Snapchat’s parent company announced Tuesday that it was taking more steps to curb drug dealing on the app, including making it harder for users to find the accounts of minors under age 17. It is making the change as drug overdoses are spiking across the U.S., partly because of the proliferation of the potent opioid fentanyl.
An NBC News investigation published in October found that Snapchat was linked to the sale of fentanyl-laced pills that killed teenagers and young adults in over a dozen states. Following the reporting, Snap, the service’s parent company, said it improved its automated systems to detect illegal drugs, hired more employees to handle law enforcement requests and developed an education portal focused on the dangers of fentanyl and counterfeit pills.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
Now, the company said, it is taking its efforts even further. Snap said in a blog post that to “protect 13 to 17 year olds,” it changed its friend recommendation feature, called Quick Add. It will no longer suggest that users add accounts belonging to minors unless they have “a certain number of friends in common with that person.” The tweak will, in effect, make it more difficult for strangers to become friends on Snapchat with teenagers they don’t know.
Samuel Chapman, the father of a 16-year-old boy who overdosed last year after he took fentanyl-laced pills bought on Snapchat, said the change won't do much to stop drug dealing on the app. "All of these things are easy for drug dealers and for kids to get around," he said.
"What I find with Snap Inc. is that they publicize one Band-Aid after another, but at the end of the day, you can still go online and get drugs in seconds," he said.
