Meta Refuses to Follow Ethics Board’s Recommendations on Limiting Drug Content

Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, has chosen to disregard certain recommendations from its ethics watchdog regarding the regulation of drug-related content. This decision will have significant implications for the dissemination of information on psychedelic drugs and how people acquire knowledge about them.

The regulatory board’s guidance on the drug comes from a 2022 post labeled “paid partner” that described ketamine treatment as a “drug” and “magical entry into another dimension.” Meta deleted and returned the message three times.

In August, the government overturned Meta’s decision to leave it in place and made broader recommendations — including that Meta should review the government’s “inconsistently implemented” policies on the sale or promotion of illegal or recreational drugs.

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Meta responded last week, saying it would take the government’s advice to clarify the “paid partnership”. However, the company is ignoring government guidance to refine policies on what individual users can post about drugs that provide a high but can also be used in medical conditions. It is a category that encompasses ketamine, which is often prescribed for use in clinics, and possibly other psychedelic drugs.

Meta also didn’t commit to the government-demanded review, saying it was “only evaluating its feasibility” in 2024. It cited “machine learning automation” that can already find content that violates its policies.

Meta’s decisions have followed the comments of about 15 parties, which, according to the government, have not been made public. One was from Mindbloom, a telehealth company that works with psychiatric clinicians who prescribe ketamine for home use and had lobbied Meta to allow posts related to this and other psychedelics.

“Deplorable”

“It is unfortunate that they are not going to clarify the policy in line with the recommendations,” a spokesman for the oversight board said. The current policy says that content that “endorses or promotes the use of drugs” is allowed, even if the use could lead to a “high”, as long as it is in the context of a “controlled medical environment”. The board had asked Meta to define what such a regulation is.

When asked for further comment, Meta referred to its public response. Meta funds an oversight board that has previously dealt with political protests and Covid-related misinformation, and is under no obligation to follow its advice.

Mindbloom and other ketamine mail order companies could have suffered if “controlled medical settings” did not include home use. Given the state-by-state legalization of psychedelics for use in a “controlled environment” in Oregon and in “rehabilitation centers” in Colorado, the continued ambiguity could also prove useful in promoting other drugs.

“This decision is a big win for people who use ketamine therapy and other psychedelic drugs,” Mindbloom’s attorney Michael Petegorsky said. It allows people to “talk freely about these new mental health treatments in their own words without revealing private health information.”

New dealer

Social media has become the new neighborhood drug dealer, and sellers have been encouraged by decriminalization policies in some cities and states. Buyers are enthusiastic about psychedelics, particularly due to positive press from ongoing clinical trials to see if they can help with widespread ailments such as depression.

At the same time, parties doing such research or already selling drugs have an interest in seeing them discussed on social media.

An Instagram search after Meta’s response revealed that the user could find ketamine, psilocybin (also known as magic mushrooms) and other recreational drugs.

One account, @trippy.chocolate, is linked to an online store that says “shrooms can be used to treat depression, PTSD and addiction to substances such as alcohol, drugs and tobacco. The store did not respond to an email for comment, and the Instagram account soon disappeared after that.

A tricky subject

As social media companies try to balance free speech with abuse, ketamine is a particularly tricky subject.

Although approved as a medical anesthetic, ketamine is also known as “Special K” and is used as a party drug. As it is increasingly prescribed over-the-counter to treat depression and anxiety, either through intravenous treatments or over-the-counter lozenges, concerns have grown. The US Food and Drug Administration recently warned of risks including “abuse, psychiatric events, increased blood pressure, respiratory depression (slowing of breathing), and lower urinary tract and bladder symptoms.”

Social media companies are wading right into this and other ongoing discussions. Meta’s response to the government stated that if the company finds that the drug is being misused to get high, it “may treat it as a non-medical drug and remove its content.”

Such practices put Meta in the position of having to decide on a matter on which there is no scientific consensus. As clinical trials move forward, some biotech companies are testing psychedelic-like molecules that are believed to be able to make patients feel better without getting high. At the same time, many researchers argue that hallucinogenic “highs” are the drugs’ main therapeutic mechanism.

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