Dealers' paradise? How social media became a storefront for deadly fake pills as families struggle

Fentanyl overdoses have become a leading cause of death for minors in the last 5 years .

Experts say 80% of teen and young adult fentanyl poisoning deaths can be traced to some social media contact.

Experts, law enforcement and children’s advocates say companies like Snap , TikTok , Telegram and Meta Platforms , which owns Instagram , are not doing enough to keep children safe.

Meta, for its part, has made it more difficult to search for drugs on its platform in recent weeks .

The company says it blocks and filters “ hundreds ” of terms associated with illicit drug sales.

But drug dealers and other bad actors constantly shift their strategies, coming up with fresh ways to avoid detection.

A group of parents who say their children bought fentanyl from drug dealers they met through Snapchat sued the company for wrongful death and negligence.

Snapchat says it is “heartbroken by the fentanyl epidemic and are deeply committed to the fight against it’s.

Advocates are hoping that regulation of tech companies could help address the problem.