An initiative on tackling illegal drug sales and the fentanyl crisis.
President-elect Donald Trump‘s transition team has invited tech giants, including Google, Microsoft, Meta, Snap, and TikTok, to a mid-December meeting focused on combating online drug sales, according to a report by The Information. The meeting aims to gather insights from these companies about challenges and priorities in addressing illegal drug activity on their platforms.
Trump has pledged to tackle the fentanyl crisis, emphasising stricter measures against its flow into the US from Mexico and Canada. He has also proposed a nationwide advertising campaign to educate the public about the dangers of fentanyl. Tech companies have faced scrutiny in the past for their platforms’ roles in facilitating drug sales, with Meta under investigation and eBay recently settling a case for failing to prevent the sale of devices used to make counterfeit pills.
The transition team has not commented publicly on the meeting, but it underscores the growing intersection between technology and public health issues, particularly as the US grapples with the devastating impact of fentanyl addiction and trafficking.