The Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms Voluntary Framework for Cooperation:
Cross-Industry Best Practices

Purpose: The Alliance to Prevent Drug Harms drafted these best practices to help guide tech peers in combating illicit drug activity online.

Community Guidelines, Prohibited Content Policy & Enforcement

  1. Explicit Prohibition: Include an explicit prohibition against drug trafficking, detailing what constitutes such activities. Explicitly mention the sale of drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine, and other synthetic drugs.
  2. Definition of Drug Trafficking: Platforms should provide a baseline understanding of the term for their users. This could be informed by U.S. and international law, such as the Controlled Substances Act or the United Nations Convention against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances.
  3. Language and Symbolism: Flag symbols and coded language often used by drug traffickers to market their products as a signal of prohibited activity for platform review.
  4. User Reporting Mechanism: Provide mechanisms for users to report content they believe is in violation of the platform’s guidelines.
  5. Distinct Reporting Category: Establish a dedicated category for illicit drug-related/regulated goods violations in the reporting system to help prioritize and review these reports more effectively.

Accountability, & Transparency

  1. User-Appeal Mechanism: Provide an appeal mechanism for users to contest decisions related to content removal or account suspension.
  2. Transparency Reports: Regularly publish transparency reports detailing the actions taken against drug-related content. This should include both actions taken based on user reports and proactive detection measures by the platform.
  3. Law Enforcement Guidelines: Publish guidelines for law enforcement agencies to request information or takedowns of content.
  4. Privacy Policy: Clearly state how user data is handled and protected, particularly in the context of law enforcement requests. Reassure users that their privacy is respected and protected, and that user data is only shared with third parties, including law enforcement, in transparent circumstances set forth in privacy policies.

Staying Ahead of the Threat

  1. Continuous Monitoring and Learning: Platforms should strive to continuously monitor changes in drug trafficking patterns, including the use of new slang, symbols, or tactics.
  2. Employee Training:  Train (and re-train) employees working in content moderation to recognize and handle drug-related content and behavior.
  3. Cross-Industry and Government Collaboration: Collaborate with other tech platforms, governmental organizations, law enforcement agencies, and non-governmental organizations specializing in drug use prevention, treatment, and recovery to share information and learn about best practices.
  4. Proactive Measures: Use machine-learning and AI to help detect and remove drug-related content. Regularly update these systems to keep up with trends.
  5. Referrals to Law Enforcement: Develop at-scale procedures for referring potentially illegal activity to law enforcement. This could involve sharing data pursuant to the appropriate legal frameworks and privacy policies and maintaining open lines of communication with relevant agencies.
  6. User-Education: Educate users about the dangers of drug misuse and the legal consequences of drug trafficking. Education can be done through blog posts, interstitials or pop-up reminders, or dedicated features on the platform.
  7. Feedback Loop: Create a feedback mechanism where the effectiveness of policies and procedures is regularly evaluated and improved based on insights from both internal and external data.