Overview

• Meta Platforms Inc. has rejected some recommendations from its ethics watchdog, the Oversight Board, to increase regulations on drug-related social media posts. The Oversight Board's guidance pertains to a 2022 post about a ketamine treatment, which was removed and reinstated by Meta three times.
• Despite agreeing to clarify guidelines for 'paid partnerships,' Meta has decided to ignore the Board's advice on refining policy on posts about drugs that have recreational use but may also be used medically. This decision may impact posts about drugs such as ketamine and other potential psychedelic drugs.
• Meta will not commit to the recommended audit of policies against promoting or selling illegal or recreational drugs, planning only to 'assess the feasibility' of this in 2024. It justified this move by citing machine learning automation that can detect content that infringes on its policies.
• This decision follows input from around 15 parties, one of which was Mindbloom, a telehealth company that collaborates with psychiatric clinicians who prescribe ketamine for home use. Mindbloom and other companies could have faced challenges if 'supervised medical settings' were not considered to include home use.
• Meta's refusal to regulate posts about recreational drugs that can potentially be used medically has raised concerns about consistent enforcement of its policies, and could have implications for discussions about psychedelic drug education and mental health on its platforms.