PHOENIX –Attorney General Kris Mayes today announced a new webpage her office is launching to hold social media companies accountable for enabling and facilitating alleged illegal activities. This webpage will serve as a resource where the public can see cases, indictments, and convictions where social media companies are named in connection with criminal activity.
“For too long, social media companies have turned a blind eye to how their platforms are used by drug traffickers—especially to target young people,” said Attorney General Mayes. “We will call it out, case by case, and hold these companies publicly accountable. It’s about transparency. It’s about responsibility. And it’s about telling these companies: Arizona is watching.”
Social media companies have become hubs for communication, commerce, and community—but some are also enabling illegal activity on their platforms. A 2023 National Institute of Health (NIH) study found that up to 13% of social media posts promoted illicit drug sales. Drug traffickers are brazenly boosting their sales posts on social media, in some cases paying to make it a sponsored post. The social media platforms’ algorithms are driving teen accounts to these illicit drug sales posts. The National Crime Prevention Council estimates 80% of teen and young adult fentanyl poisoning deaths can be traced to some social media contact.
Attorney General Mayes believes Arizonans have a right to know when social media companies are used to enable and facilitate illegal activities such as:
- Drug trafficking—Criminal organizations use social media to sell fentanyl and other deadly drugs, often targeting young people.
- Gang recruitment and violence—Platforms serve as tools for gangs to organize, recruit, and incite violence in our communities.
- Fraud and scams—Criminals exploit social media to defraud consumers, steal identities, and facilitate financial crimes.
- Human trafficking and crimes against humans—Criminals use social media to find and groom victims and share child sexual abuse material.
At the time of its launch, the ‘Holding Social Media Companies Accountable’ page shows seven indictments that name social media companies, including Instagram, a Meta Platforms, Inc. Company; Snap Inc. (Snapchat); and Telegram, a Telegram Messenger Inc company. Even as Section 230 of the Communications Decency Act (codified at 47 U.S.C. § 230) shields these companies from being held accountable for criminal actions taken by third-party actors, this page will shine a light on the role social media platforms play in enabling and facilitating illegal drug activity. It will highlight indictments where these platforms are named as tools allegedly used to commit crimes—particularly fentanyl trafficking.
The Attorney General's Office has been working hand-in-hand with local, state, and federal agencies in attacking the flow of illegal substances entering the state and later distributed throughout the country. Since 2022, Attorney General Mayes has worked with HITDA partners to successfully seize more than 25 million fentanyl pills in Arizona. The Arizona HIDTA team has also seized over 405 pounds of fentanyl powder—enough for nearly 92 million potentially lethal doses.
This is not the first time Attorney General Mayes has held big tech companies accountable. In 2023, Attorney General Mayes joined a bipartisan group of states suing Meta Platforms, Inc. for their alleged violations of state consumer protection laws and the federal Online Privacy protection Act (COPPA). Earlier this month she joined a bipartisan coalition urging Meta Platforms, Inc. to protect users accounts from scammers.