\n\n\nVictims of Illicit Drugs
⁠A California Non-Profit Corporation
⁠Board of Directors\nDecember 1, 2021\n\nHouse Committee on Energy and Commerce
⁠Sub-Committee on Communications and Technology
⁠U.S. House of Representatives
⁠Washington, D.C.\n\nDear Chairman Pallone, Ranking Member McMorris Rodgers, Chairman Doyle, and Ranking Member Latta,\nThank you for convening today’s hearing on “\nHolding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech’s Legal Immunity.\n”\nWe applaud the Committee for its efforts to reform section 230. As has become all too clear, courts’ overbroad interpretation of that provision is having the opposite effect Congress intended. Rather than encourage online platforms to protect their users from harmful and illegal activity, section 230 as courts apply it is granting platforms a liability shield even when they fail to adequately wield the content moderation sword.\nThe large number of bills introduced to reform section 230 shows that Congress sees the need for legislative change. At least one critically important solution has yet to be introduced, however: a bill that restores for platforms the duty of care.¹ That duty ordinarily requires businesses to take reasonable steps to prevent some of their customers from using their services to engage in illegal activity that harms other customers or the public.\nOur organizations—Victims of Illicit Drugs and the Alexander Neville Foundation—represent parents who have lost children to the growing epidemic of drugs unlawfully sold over social media. None of the bills under consideration today would address this problem. These children were not killed by misinformation, bias, hate speech, or algorithms. They were killed, in part, because platforms negligently, recklessly, or knowingly facilitated illegal activity: in this case, an unlawful drug sale.\nAs important as examination is of the issues underlying those other bills, only a bill that restores the duty of reasonable care will help stop drug sales and all the other illicit activity online that platforms are doing too little to curb. \nVictims and their families could bring any other business to court for such irresponsible conduct. The modest reform we seek simply restores parity and justice in such situations. With its passage, victims and their families will not win every case. But at least they could be heard.\nSection 230 today doesn’t just deny those victims and their family’s access to the courthouse steps. It short circuits the discovery process that is so critical to examining what the platforms know, when they know it, and what they do about it. We are all indebted to Frances Haugen for shedding light on Facebook’s reprehensible indifference. But we should not be forced to rely on the next brave whistleblower to pierce platforms’ lack of transparency.\nThe majority of section 230 cases today are dismissed not under section 230, but for failure to state a legally cognizable claim or other procedural defects, according to the Internet Association.² Those cases will still be dismissed at the same early stage. The section 230 reform we seek will just ensure that when victims and their families \ndo\n have a properly pleaded and plausible claim that they were harmed by platforms’ irresponsible behavior, they get their day in court.\nThat will help not only them. It will also help the public by creating evolving judicial precedent on what steps platforms must take to keep us all safer. And it will better ensure platforms take proactive steps so there are fewer victims, and thus fewer tragic cases that need to be taken to court in the first place.\nThank you for all your effort. We look forward to working with you as the process of section 230 reform moves forward.\nSincerely,\n
\nJaime Puerta, President\nAmy Neville, Vice-President and Founder, Alexander Neville Foundation\nSteven Filson, Secretary-Treasurer\n\n¹ See\n \nHearing on “Disinformation Online and a Country in Crisis,” before House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, House Committee on Energy and Commerce\n, 116th Cong. (2020) (\nstatement\n of Neil Fried, Principal, DigitalFrontiers Advocacy); \nHearing on “Fostering a Healthier Internet to Protect Consumers,” before House Subcommittee on Communications and Technology and House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce, House Committee on Energy and Commerce\n, 116th Cong. (2019) (\nstatement\n of Prof. Danielle K. Citron, Boston University School of Law).\n² See\n Neil Fried, \nInternet Association Makes Case for Section 230 Reform by Mistake\n, Aug. 30, 2020, \nhttps://digitalfrontiersadvocacy.com/blogs-and-op-eds/f/ia-study-shows-sec-230-reform-would-have-impact-only-where-needed\n.

Holding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech’s Legal Immunity

Today marks the release of a new public service announcement, “Dead on Arrival,” a short film about fentanyl’s deadly role in the U.S. illicit drug market. Earlier this year, the CDC announced that 93,000 citizens perished from opioid drugs in 2020, and that 70% were killed by fentanyl, driven mainly by counterfeit opioids and tainted drugs purporting be something else. In 2021, this figure is expected to rise significantly and will not stop, as long as there is demand, drug cartels remain active, and SnapChat, Facebook, and others can serve as the main communication conduits.\n\nDead on Arrival (Facebook video) - https://fb.watch/8i9IJ_a7t-/\n\nThe PSA, “Dead on Arrival,” was produced, written, directed, and photographed by Dominic Tierno and Christine Wood. \n “Dead on Arrival” is focused on the people at risk. Those at risk include casual users, partygoers, experimenters, regular users, and even unsuspecting bystanders who may come into contact with the powerful opioid. The film explores the stories of four families who lost loved ones to fentanyl in various ways and its larger impact on communities of all types. \nIn addition to the suffering and pain that fentanyl has brought to families and neighborhoods, the film is also a primer on what makes this epidemic so deadly and pervasive. It looks at manufacture, counterfeiting, marketing, and distribution process that allows fentanyl to sneak into anyone’s home.\nThe interviews in “Dead on Arrival” are powerful first-person accounts of fentanyl deaths told by surviving parents who started V.O.I.D. (Victims of Illicit Drugs), a foundation created to spread awareness and educate others in order to prevent further lives lost. Stories include: \n Amy Neville survived her son, Alexander Neville (14)\nSteve Filson survived his daughter, Jessica Filson (29)\nJaime Puerta survived his son, Daniel Puerta (16)\nMatt Capelouto survived his daughter, Alexandra Capelouto (20)\nThe opioid crisis, birthed by pharmaceutical companies, has been supplanted by the fentanyl epidemic. Through counterfeiting, fentanyl and its analogs now account for nearly all of the illicit opioid market and is easily found in heroin and non-opioid drugs like cocaine, MDMA, Xanax, Ketamine, as well as many more “designer drugs.” \nThe problem needs to be shared so that “we the people” may solve it together. Solutions to this crisis require public and user awareness, universal mental health and substance abuse assistance, homicide investigations, and a clamp down on SnapChat, Facebook, and other platforms that provide dealers a marketplace and a large customer base.\n\nDropbox video file (3.0GB) - https://www.dropbox.com/sh/l9u9yml011ehi6p/AADutY2xzUWhflpuoRB65yuQa?dl=0\n\nMedia Contacts:
⁠Amy Neville, amy@anfhelp.org,  480-213-3705
⁠Jaime Puerta, jaime.p@stopthevoid.org, 951-314-3044

Dead on Arrival (short film public service announcement)

Hello! Welcome to VOID "Victims of Illicit Drugs". I'm so happy to meet you and I look forward to sharing what we are up to these days. My name is Jaime Puerta and I serve as VOID's President. Thank you for signing up to receive our newsletter. We look forward to keeping you up to date with our latest news and information about our events and advocacy campaigns, and especially about our ist annual conference which will take place in April of 2022 in Orange County, California. Here is a little information about our foundation.\nVOID was founded by bereaved parents who have lost their loved ones to the Fentanyl Epidemic. Our energies are directed to bringing to the public's attention through education, awareness, and legislative advocacy, the immediate danger of sudden death associated with the use of illicit narcotics, illicit Fentanyl, and other emerging synthetic analogues.\n1). We advocate for the reduction and restriction of illicit Synthetic Analogues in the United States. \n2). We advocate to amend Section 230 c to remove the liability shield that tech firms currently enjoy for perpetuating illegal activity, as well as adopt transparency provisions regarding content moderation. Most of these illicit narcotics are being sold over social media platforms, which currently enjoy immunity for hosting user generated content, even when it's illegal and even when they know it's there. Social media platforms must collaborate with law enforcement in a timely manner and identify and ban criminals and bad faith actors who sell illicit narcotics through their platforms and prosecute them accordingly. \nThere is only one way we can achieve these goals and that is by raising public awareness of what these synthetic analogues are and to promote policies that will prevent the negative impact of these deadly substances on our communities and families. \nWe certainly hope you can help us achieve our goals, which at the end of the day, is to save as many men, women, and children from being poisoned by illicit Fentanyl and its analogues. \nSincerely Yours, 
⁠Jaime Puerta

State of VOID - 8/7/21

Press Release\nAliso Viejo, CA (September 7, 2021) -- A group of seven parents whose children died from counterfeit pills sold by drug dealers on Snapchat publicly demanded that the social media giant measure and report their  response to law enforcement and the removal of drug dealers from the platform.\nIn the letter signed by eight families, parents specifically wanted Snapchat to measure and report to the public its response time to valid law enforcement requests. “Nobody is asking them to fulfill requests that don’t go through proper legal channels,” said Amy Neville, mother of murdered 14-year-old Alex Neville, “but days can mean more deaths if drug dealers who have deadly fake pills aren’t identified when law enforcement requests it. We need to know that they are processing these with the urgency that lives are at stake.”\nAmy Neville and other families participated in a meeting where Snapchat stated that they weren’t adequately staffed to respond to law enforcement requests quickly.\nThe letter also demands that Snapchat measure their program to find and remove drug dealers from the platform and refer these individuals to law enforcement proactively. “If Snapchat discovers evidence that someone is dealing drugs on its platform, it must bring law enforcement in.” said Jaime Puerta, father of murdered sixteen-year-old Daniel Puerta. “If they just remove their account quietly and they keep dealing and someone dies, Snapchat is morally responsible for that death.”\nThe letter asks that Snapchat convene a nine-member oversight committee of outside experts in law enforcement, public health and safety, and parents whose children have been harmed to review policies, procedures, and enforcement of Snapchat’s efforts to clean up its platform.\nOur Letter to Evan Spiegel at Snap Inc\nEvan Spiegel, CEO
⁠Michael O’Sullivan, General Counsel
⁠2772 Donald Douglas Loop N
⁠Santa Monica, CA 90405\nSeptember 7, 2021\nWe, the undersigned, lost our children to opioids sold by dealers on Snapchat -- a platform that caters to users too young to understand the opioid crisis or the risks of counterfeit pills. All social media platforms have a moral responsibility to the young people that use them and we believe they must take that responsibility seriously. \nWe ask that you take the following steps to publicly address the danger of criminal behavior on your platform.\nResponsiveness to law enforcement\nWe write today because some of the investigations into our own children’s deaths have encountered resistance to law enforcement requests for information because, as Snapchat representatives told us, they are not adequately resourced to be responsive enough.\nProactive measures to stop drug trafficking\nAll social media platforms should have proactive programs that include automated software to search for evidence of drug dealing, human review, and referral to law enforcement when such activity is found.\nWe have heard rumors that Snapchat may use such technology, but we seek a formal  declaration of its use and commitment to law enforcement referrals. Without the power of law enforcement referrals, criminals can simply continue their activities with new accounts on the service.\nScreening of business profiles\nSocial media companies must carefully scrutinize accounts that advertise and perform other business functions on their platforms to avoid a repeat of the problems Google experienced in 2011. Snapchat should ensure that only NABP-approved pharmacies are permitted to promote pharmaceutical products to U.S. residents. Violators should be referred to the FDA’s Office of Criminal Investigation.\nExternal transparency committee to evaluate Snapchat’s efforts\nSnapchat drug dealers are preying on young people across the country, and public sources have already linked these sellers to deaths in fifteen states. Snapchat needs oversight and transparency to reassure parents that it is accountable to protect our children on the platform.\nWe call on Snapchat to establish a transparency committee of nine individuals, three drawn from federal and state narcotics law enforcement, three from parents who have lost children to Snapchat drug dealers, and three with an expertise in the area of public health. The committee would receive redacted quarterly reports that show:\n	•	The date Snapchat received each law enforcement request.\n	•	The date Shapchat fulfilled that request. (If multiple fulfilments were required, list the date of each of those and the date of the final fulfillment.)\n	•	The reason any specific request was not fulfilled. \n	•	The number of criminal referrals sent to law enforcement and the agencies the referrals were sent to.\n	•	The number of business accounts terminated or suspended for drug-trafficking criminal behavior.\nIt is assumed that information about each law enforcement request will be sufficiently redacted to protect the integrity of active investigations.\nOur families have suffered a great deal of pain as a result of drug dealers on Snapchat, and our children have died. Snapchat’s verbal commitments, genuine good will, and public service messaging efforts are welcome, but the potential for more harm screams for transparency and oversight. We call upon Snapchat to demonstrate that they are doing the work to protect  the young users of their platform.\nAmy Neville
⁠Mother of Alexander Neville, 14
⁠Murdered by a fentanyl-based fake oxycodone sold by Snapchat drug dealer, 2020 \nJaime Puerta
⁠Father of Daniel Joseph Puerta-Johnson, 16 
⁠Murdered by counterfeit blue M30 oxycodone pill sold by Snapchat drug dealer, 2020 \nMaria Ortega 
⁠Mother of Adrian De Jesus, 19
⁠Murdered by a fentanyl-based counterfeit oxycodone sold by Snapchat drug dealer in 2020\nChristine Capelouto
⁠Mother of Alexandra Capelouto, 20 
⁠Murdered by counterfeit blue M30 oxycodone pill sold by Snapchat drug dealer, 2019\nBridgette L. Norring 
⁠Mother of Devin Joseph Norring , 19
⁠Murdered by a counterfeit Percocet sold by Snapchat drug dealer, 2020\nWendy Plunk
⁠Mother of Zachariah Plunk, 17
⁠Murdered by a Fentanyl based counterfeit Percocet M30, pill sold by a Snapchat drug dealer, 8/15/2020\nCynthia Cruz-Sarantos
⁠Mother to Dylan Kai Sarantos, 18
⁠Poisoned and Killed with a fentanyl based counterfeit ecstasy pill sold by a drug dealer on Snapchat, 2020.

A Letter to Evan at Snap

Fentanyl is a synthetic analog to opium. As a medication, fentanyl is considered 50–100 times stronger than morphine. Patients undergoing difficult surgeries and cancer treatments benefit from its effectiveness. Fentanyl is often compared to oxycodone for pain management, so it is helpful for recognizing how little is required to induce similar effects. Oxycodone doses range 5–60 milligrams (mg) while fentanyl dosages range 15–150 micrograms (mcg). Both dosages are minuscule, but the amount of fentanyl required is almost 1000 times smaller.\n\nThe problem started a while back. In the 1990s, pharmaceutical companies were given permission to market oxycodone (a timed release opiate) and similar drugs to doctors and patients. Pain was advertised as a disease to treat more than just a symptom. In the following decades, pain-management became a hundred billion dollar industry. To keep the competition alive, companies introduced new formulations of opiates, including fentanyl.\n\n13 million US citizens were addicted to these medications by 2010 and our legislatures began to react. As a result of the body's natural ability to build tolerance to medication, each person with pain would need more and more medication to achieve the results needed to live their lives. Those addicted went to great lengths to obtain more. This helped create a black market built out of rogue pharmacies, etc. The public finally began to notice the destruction and a campaign to educate and create laws went in to effect.\n\nThe black market grew further when much of the 13 million people couldn't stop taking their medication overnight. Many began to seek out alternatives like heroin to fix their needs. Organized crime assisted in building a greater supply and in 2013 fentanyl became a major player. Much of the initial fentanyl was ordered from legal laboratories in China, India, and elsewhere in Asia. When sanctions by the US government penalized those countries, the Mexican cartels had already invested and so they made deals to produce fentanyl in Mexico while still ordering ingredients from countries in Asia.\n

Articles

Holding Big Tech Accountable: Targeted Reforms to Tech’s Legal Immunity

Dead on Arrival (short film public service announcement)

State of VOID - 8/7/21

A Letter to Evan at Snap

Fentanyl