A Democratic senator is opposing a bill that he says would perpetuate the discriminatory consequences of the war on drugs by forcing social media and other technology companies to broadly surveil people in an effort to combat illicit drug sales and lead to “meritless” referrals to the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-OR) vowed that he will raise an objection to any future unanimous consent motion to advance the Cooper Davis Act on the floor on Thursday, about a week after an amended version of the legislation was approved by the Senate Judiciary Committee.
The bill would amend the Controlled Substances Act (CSA) in a way that would require social media companies and other communications service providers to report instances where there’s suspected sales, manufacturing or possession with intent to distribute of fentanyl, methamphetamine, prescription opioids and counterfeit drugs happening in their networks. Marijuana and other controlled substances would not specifically be targeted.
While the legislation says it would not “require” the companies to monitor or affirmatively search for such content, it imposes a maximum fine of $190,000 if the business “knowingly and willfully fails to make a report” to DEA about relevant drug-related content that they become
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