On Depop, buyers can browse hundreds of health products and supplements, ready to purchase alongside secondhand clothes. What isn’t immediately obvious is that these listings are illegal. Via WIREDUK
. In the ad for whitening products, posted on the site a year ago, the seller boasted that the product could “Prevent Dull Skin Problems Dark Spots, and Increase Skin Clarity” and “Helping to Reveal Radiant Skin.” The seller, who had a five-star rating and reviews that raved about the products, did not appear to have a food business registration.
"Experimenting with items that have unfounded health promises could result in long-term damage to both physical and mental health,” says Linda Papadopoulos, a child psychologist and ambassador for Internet Matters, a nonprofit for online safety. Health products implying nonapproved treatments and making misleading medical claims appear on Depop despite beingby the app. They are also subject to medicine regulators. “Food supplements can’t claim to treat, cure, or prevent diseases,” Anderson explains.
Tech platforms have been largely left to self-regulate and are not obliged to proactively vet what’s being sold on them or implement their own guidelines. WIRED reported several prohibited items on Depop through the complaints form offered to users on February 26, but they were still live on the app at the time of publication.
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