Thirteen-year-old Billy opened Instagram and typed “buy ” into the search bar. Instantly, the platform auto-filled dozens of results for him. He clicked on one of the suggested accounts and quickly connected to a social media drug dealer.

It took Billy all of five seconds and just two clicks to find illegal drugs through Instagram.

Fortunately, in this case, Billy was part of a research project on social media drug dealers. But it’s happening in real life, too.

Researchers Show the Ease of Social Media Drug Dealing

Researchers at the Tech Transparency Project set up Instagram accounts representing several 13- to 15-year-old users. And what they found was alarming. On average, it took two clicks for the hypothetical teen to find a drug dealer.

The researchers reported, “Not only did Instagram allow the hypothetical teens to easily search for age-restricted and illegal drugs, but the platform’s algorithms helped the underage accounts connect directly with drug dealers selling everything from opioids to party drugs.”

A Meta (Facebook and Instagram’s parent company) spokesperson contended that drug sales are strictly prohibited on Instagram. And that they’ve improved detection technology to identify and remove content related to drug sales.

But Meta’s improved efforts aren’t stopping teens like Billy. Instagram can ban hashtags for illegal substances, but what’s the point when the algorithm recommends alternatives instead?

Read more here.