Eventbrite, an event management and ticketing website, has been hosting thousands of listings selling illegal drugs and escort services. An investigation by WIRED found that the platform’s algorithm even suggested these illicit posts alongside addiction recovery events, raising concerns about its content moderation practices.
Among the addiction recovery events affected was Ryan’s Ride for Recovery. The annual event in Saugerties, New York, is organized by the Kelder family to honor their son, who died of a heroin overdose. Events like Ryan’s Ride and other listings promoting recovery initiatives appeared next to posts offering Xanax, Valium, oxycodone, and other pharmaceutical drugs without a prescription.
“It’s criminal,” Vince Kelder told WIRED. He added: “They’re preying on people trying to get their lives back together.”
On paper, Evebrite policies prohibit the sale of illegal substances on their platform. Nonetheless, WIRED uncovered over 7,400 event listings that seemed to violate their terms of service. These included offers for fentanyl powder, Social Security numbers, and various online services like Gmail accounts and social media likes. Many posts pushed users to untrustworthy online pharmacies, flagged by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy.
Even more troubling, Eventbrite didn’t merely allow for the publication of illegal and illicit listings. The company’s algorithm actively promoted the availability of restricted pharmaceuticals, as well as illegal drugs and services. “Listings like these do not have a home on Eventbrite,” the tech company’s head of platform product, Chris Adams, said in a statement. Adams added: “This is a spam attack, coordinated by a few bad actors attempting to draw audiences to third-party sites.”
The National Pulse previously reported that House Republicans are probing Eventbrite and GoFundMe over allegations they aided the Biden government in surveilling political terms after the January 6, 2021, riots in Washington, D.C.
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