Trump aides contact Google, Meta, Snap over online drug sales

President-elect Donald Trump’s transition team has invited five major tech companies, including Google, Microsoft and Meta Platforms to a meeting in mid-December about dealing with online sales of drugs, The Information reported on Sunday.

A representative for Jim Carroll, the drug czar during Trump’s first term, and Trump’s transition team emailed staffers from the three tech giants on Thursday, as well as those from Snap and TikTok, to invite them to a call, the report added, citing a person with direct knowledge of the correspondence.

The transition officials want to hear from the companies about their priorities and any barriers to addressing issues around the sales of drugs online, the person told the Information.

Google, Microsoft, Meta, Snap, TikTok and the Trump transition team did not immediately respond to a Reuters’ request for comment.

Trump has vowed to get Mexico to do more to stop the flow of fentanyl to the U.S., which has killed hundreds of thousands of Americans and threatened to impose steep tariffs on goods from Mexico and Canada unless those countries curb fentanyl trafficking and illegal migration.

In November, Trump also said in a post on Truth Social that he “will be working on a large scale United States Advertising Campaign, explaining how bad fentanyl is for people to use.”

In March, The Wall Street Journal reported that U.S. prosecutors were investigating Meta’s role and whether it profited from the sale and distribution of drugs on Facebook and Instagram.

In January, eBay agreed to pay $59 million and upgrade compliance measures to resolve U.S. Department of Justice allegations that it didn’t do enough to stop criminals from buying devices for making counterfeit drugs, including pills laced with fentanyl.

US Elections 2024- Trump’s victory and other updates