Drugs and Social Media

"End users seem to be buying their drugs on the dark web to a lesser extent than in previous years.28 Qualitative information provided by people who use social media suggests that the use of such media for drug purchasing purposes has been increasing, especially at the retail level.29 This is occurring in a context in which the use of social media, typically accessed via the clear web (although not exclusively) is increasing more rapidly than the use of the Internet in general. 

"In a study conducted in the United States (2018) and Spain (2019), in which about one tenth of all Internet-using drug consumers aged 15–25 bought drugs online, large proportions (69 per cent in the United States and 86 per cent in Spain) of online purchases were made via social media, and the remainder on darknet markets.30 Another study, conducted in Ireland in 2021, suggested that around 64 per cent of online drug purchases among the general population were made using social media, 28 per cent occurred on darknet markets and 8 per cent were made via online shops.31 That pattern applied to most drug types.32 A previous comparison of social media and darknet markets in Denmark, carried out in 2017, had also suggested that most online drug purchases were made via social media (71 per cent).33 

"Drugs are sold on a number of social media platforms, including mainstream platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat and WhatsApp.34 Platforms that enable social networking between strangers, such as Tinder, Grindr, Instagram, Facebook and Discord, allow sellers to openly “advertise” their products to unknown buyers by constructing a public profile. Conversely, messaging platforms, both encrypted and unencrypted, facilitate more private drug transactions between people who already know one another, via direct message or within the confines of a group chat.35 

"The two main social media platforms identified for drug purchases in the above-mentioned study conducted in the United States and Spain in 2018/2019 were Facebook and Instagram.36 Findings from a study in Nordic countries in the period September–December 2017 show that Facebook and Instagram were also the social media platforms most commonly used for drug dealing in Denmark, Iceland and Sweden. There were no indications of drug dealing on open social media platforms such as Facebook in Norway, however. The same was true in Finland, where the majority of online drug purchases were made on darknet markets. One-on-one social media forums such as Reddit seem to be preferred in Norway.37 However, different social media platforms may also be used for different drugs, as seen in Latin America and the Caribbean.38"