Authorities warn: Drugs are being sold to children on social media

JuYeon Kim, anchor/reporter for KSHB 41, reports on agricultural issues and the fentanyl crisis. Share your story idea with JuYeon.

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As school holidays begin again for thousands of students, federal authorities are warning that children are being specifically recruited for drug trafficking via social media.

“These dealers are using every possible means of electronic communication because they know the kids are there,” said Tony Mattivi, director of the Kansas Bureau of Investigation. “They're using emojis with drug meanings that even I can't keep up with.”

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Mattivi says fentanyl is primarily distributed through social media applications, typically Snapchat and Facebook Messenger.

While social media giants are now beginning to cooperate, they all need to be proactive in holding drug dealers accountable for their online actions.

“It's very difficult for us to police this. I mean, we can't make calls on a social media platform like we can on a cell phone,” Mattivi said. “It's difficult to punish a company in the same way as an individual, but we need to get them to come to the negotiating table and help us get through this epidemic.”

Aside from the fact that social media platforms cannot be intercepted, encrypted apps like WhatsApp and Signal are completely immune to interception.

“Are there laws that give us access to this area? Not that I know of. Is there a need? Absolutely, we need to have these discussions,” Mattivi said.

Libby Davis knows the dangers of social media better than anyone.

In this way she lost her 16-year-old son Cooper.

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“We know that emojis are used on social media apps to both buy and sell drugs,” Davis said. “We believe that Cooper and his friends were in contact with this drug dealer through Snapchat prior to the day Cooper died.”

The day Cooper died, he and his friends bought two pills they thought were Percocet.

His friends survived, but Cooper did not.

Toxicology reports later confirmed that he had fentanyl in his system.

“We and many other families feel that the social media companies are not doing enough to protect our children,” she said. “And that's exactly what this bill was written to do.”

The Cooper Davis and Devin Norring Act is a bipartisan bill that would require social media companies to inform federal police when illegal drug trafficking occurs on their platforms.

It is currently being pushed forward in the Senate.

The Davis family received no justice for Cooper's death. His dealer was found not guilty.

But to honor his life, Davis and her husband founded the Cooper Davis Memorial Foundation in hopes of educating others about the dangers of fentanyl and how it is distributed.

“We have to do something good with this, you know, we don't want his death to be in vain,” Davis said.

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