AN OUTRAGED MP has blasted Instagram after he was approached by an account appearing to sell “all manner of illegal and harmful drugs”.

Peter Kyle, the Labour MP for Hove and Portslade, accused the social media platform of failing to take action when he reported a user advertising “breathtakingly addictive” drugs.

The account displays images of large bags of cannabis – labelled ‘cheese’ – pills, mushrooms, and a substance that resembles crystal meth, as well as Adderall and Xanax. “Order, pay, receive and be happy,” one post says.

The Argus:

But to prove the user was actually offering to sell drugs, rather than simply posting pictures and making hints, The Argus created an undercover account.

We were given a price list for various strains of cannabis, which could be picked up or dropped off in Hove.

The account also offered to sell us cocaine, a class A drug, and Ketamine, a class B drug.

The Argus:

Mr Kyle said the account had followed him and repeatedly liked his posts in a bid to get “noticed”.

Mr Kyle reported the account, but Instagram told him it had found the account was unlikely to go against its “community guidelines”.

The social media giant – owned by Facebook – said the MP should report the user again if he thought it had made a mistake.

Mr Kyle criticised the company’s inaction, telling it to “get [its] house in order”.

The Argus:

He told The Argus he was “sick and tired” of social media companies operating in a “lawless and amoral” space.

And he took particular issue with Instagram’s use of the word “community”.

He said: “To me that word is a group of people who care and look out for one another. They’re becoming a Petri dish for all of these things that most true communities spend time trying to eliminate – like harm, hate, and dysfunction.”

Mr Kyle added: “Think about a real community – imagine someone walking down by Churchill Square or George Street with a sandwich board offering ecstasy, weed and prescription painkillers.

“You’d call the police and have them locked up. You wouldn’t have the police saying ‘Sorry, this doesn’t violate our community rules.’”

Mr Kyle called on Instagram to “stop pretending to be a community and start acting like one”.

Instagram did not comment.

A spokeswoman for Sussex Police said: “We take any such reports of drug dealing and criminality seriously. If anyone has any information about this, please contact us, report it and we will investigate.”

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