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Russian Ministry of Interior contacts US authorities over Facebook drug courier ads

Earlier, the company disclosed that it deleted the drug courier vacancies ads under the Russian IT watchdog’s request; the request was sent to the Facebook administration on March 5

MOSCOW, March 17. /TASS/. Russian Ministry of the Interior filed a request to the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEO) regarding the drug courier vacancies published in Facebook, the Ministry said in response to Russian State Duma lawmaker Anton Gorelkin’s inquiry.

"In order to identify people, involved in publication of mentioned advertisements, the Ministry of the Interior filed a request to a DEA representative in Russia," the Ministry said. "We will inform you once we have a response."

The Ministry also noted that it inspected Telegram channels involving similar advertisements, deciding to block access to one such channel.

"At the same time, the Ministry decided to restrict access to 103 Facebook pages that published screenshots of these advertisements," the letter says.

The lawmaker hopes that the request to DEA will make Facebook reconsider the operation of its Warsaw office, which, according to Gorelkin, regulates the company’s Russian segment.

"Maybe, there is some room for improvement? Maybe, they should shift priorities from posts moderation to ad moderation, for example," Gorelkin said.

Earlier, the company disclosed that it deleted the drug courier vacancies ads under the Russian IT watchdog’s request. The request was sent to the Facebook administration on March 5.