[FACT OR FAKE #68] Is Facebook Really Creating A Drug Task Force To Monitor Messages?
Earlier this week, a story went viral claiming that Facebook is launching a 'Drugs Task Force' starting this October to monitor private messages and post of social media users who use the social network for the act of taking illegal substances.
By Sadho Ram — 24 Aug 2014, 11:31 AM — Updated about 10 years ago
On 18 August, National Report ran a story convincing thousands of gullible social media users that Facebook would soon begin monitoring their posts and private messages for references to drugs
The story claimed, among other things, that Facebook planned to "work directly with the Drug Enforcement Agency" to monitor and "put away the bad guys" for any indications of drug activity:
The National Report then published a follow-up article, claiming that the "Facebook Police" had made their first bust. It also added that there are rumours the DEA will also create a hotline for pizza delivery drivers to report which customers are "obviously high."
In no time, thousands of people had already shared the story, with social media users panicked and even the Facebook page Hemp Vision TV going so far as to issue a rare "STONER ALERT"
So what's the deal here? Is Facebook really creating a so-called "Facebook drug task force"? How much of all this is FACT or FAKE?
FAKE: The story — published on National Report, which is one of those tastelessly unfunny fake sites that Facebook now marks with a "satire" tag — is completely bogus. It's a hoax!
Speaking to Gawker via email, a Facebook spokesperson called the article "spectacularly false," pointing out the Facebook hotline number listed in the report connects to the Westboro Baptist Church.
gawker.com