Five House Republicans sent a letter late last month asking social media platforms and the Department of Justice to do more to combat online sales of fentanyl. 

In letters to the heads of social media giants TikTok, Snapchat and Instagram and the Justice Department, the lawmakers expressed that they have "significant concerns regarding the use of TikTok by drug dealers to sell illicit and deadly substances, especially to children and minors."

What You Need To Know

  • Five House Republicans sent a letter late last month asking social media platforms and the Department of Justice to do more to combat online sales of fentanyl

  • More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, an all-time high in the United States, according to an estimate from the CDC. Of that figure, 71,000 of those deaths were from fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances

  • The lawmakers asked questions of the social media platforms and the Justice Department, with a deadline of Friday to respond

"Communities and families are facing an unprecedented crisis due to the increasingly widespread presence of fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances," the House Republicans – Reps. Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., Bob Latta, R-Ohio, Brett Guthrie, R-Ky., Morgan Griffith, R-Va., and Gus Bilirakis, R-Fla.  – wrote. 

"We have read numerous reports and heard personal stories from parents who have tragically lost their children to fentanyl and fentanyl-related substances from pills purchased from drug dealers on TikTok," they added. 

More than 107,000 Americans died of drug overdoses last year, an all-time high in the United States, according to an estimate from the CDC. Of that figure, 71,000 of those deaths were from fentanyl or fentanyl-related substances.

"The widespread availability and sale of these illicit pills containing fentanyl has led to record levels of overdose deaths," the lawmakers wrote. "Every overdose is a tragedy and more must be done to facilitate access to treatment for those suffering from a substance use disorder (SUD)."

The lawmakers asked questions of the social media platforms and the Justice Department, with a deadline of Friday to respond. The lawmakers asked the social platforms "wow many requests from law enforcement" they have "received related to the use of its platform to market illicit pills containing fentanyl," as well as how they respond to requests. They also want to know what tools the platforms provide or plan to provide for concerned parents.

“A lot of people say that social media is good," Guthrie told Spectrum News. "People interact with each other. But people use it for criminal enterprises, and a lot of time our social media companies are saying, 'well, we don't control everything that goes on on our platforms.'"

Guthrie called for social media companies to step up and take action to combat sales on their platforms: "I think they need to be more aggressive on this."