Facebook Is Deleting Valuable Drug Harm Reduction Groups
Sesh Safety ? a group offering real-time advice to drug users ? was permanently deleted recently, which is bad news for everyone.
Last month, the Daily Mail ran a story about how easy it is to find and buy drugs on social media. Leading with the bombshell scoop that it's possible to source weed on the internet, they then quoted a campaigner who accused Facebook, Instagram and Twitter of "aiding and abetting" the sale of drugs. The same day, Sesh Safety ? a Facebook group offering real-time drugs harm reduction advice ? was permanently deleted.
"Facebook said the group was facilitating the sale of regulated goods, which it most certainly wasn't," says Dan Owns, founder of Sesh Safety, which was profiled by VICE in July of last year. When approached by VICE, Facebook initially said it was looking into the deletion of the group, before declining to comment any further. A spokesperson did, however, send us a link to the site's Community Standards, as well as a note pointing out that buying, selling or giving instructions for the use of illegal drugs is not allowed on Facebook. It was for one of these reasons Sesh Safety was deleted, said the spokesperson.
The buying and selling bans are covered both by common sense and a section in Facebook's Community Standards forbidding the use of the site "to facilitate or organise criminal activity". Crucially, though, that bit about "giving instructions" isn't mentioned anywhere, and it's certainly not "criminal" to advise people on the safest way to use a drug. Facebook wouldn't elaborate, so these are just theories ? but considering the fact no buying or selling was taking place, it would seem the group either fell foul of that not-advertised rule, or moderators ? maybe ruffled by the Mail story ? got trigger-happy.
"My theory is because all our content is in-depth drug discussion, including names and weights, it's picked up and perceived by Facebook's moderators as selling," says Dan.
Problem is, names and weights are important when it comes to harm reduction. People are going to continue using drugs regardless of any rules, online or in the real world, so should be able to access information that can keep them as safe as possible while doing so. If the difference between having a good time and overdosing on GHB is taking a couple of milligrams too much, potential users should be armed with that information before using the drug. Restricting access to such an invaluable source of information ? somewhere you can post a question and get an almost instant response from another user, and an answer from an expert group moderator minutes later ? could be jeopardising the health and safety of thousands of people.
