As the police recently shut down the world’s largest black market and Simplicity of buying guns in the United States attracts increasing attention After several mass shootings in recent weeks, a Washington Post report cites Facebook’s policy against selling firearms in its marketplace, which ultimately seems pretty lax.
Facebook’s Marketplace doesn’t only feature ads for yet-to-be-released smartphones like the Pixel 6a.you can also occasionally find firearms there.
Facebook isn’t completely banning the sale of firearms on its platform
According to the Washington Post, Facebook’s policy regarding the sale of firearms is far more permissive than other crimes. Whereas Buying or selling instruments that can cause mass deaths will result in account suspension after only 10 warnings.Posting child pornography or a terrorist image may lead to a ban on the first offense.
According to the Washington Post, Facebook’s policy does not allow users to post messages offering or soliciting the purchase of firearms. If caught selling or selling firearms, the content is deleted and the user’s profile is marked with a cross.
Each penalty will be a little more severe than the previous one. Facebook’s website says that for most violations, the first violation results in a warning, but no further restrictions. A second warning results in a one-day restriction on posting content such as messages or comments; the third results in a three-day restriction; the fourth results in a seven-day restriction; and five or more warnings result in a 30-day restriction.
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Some users circumvent restrictions imposed by Facebook
A Protocol report in 2020 had already highlighted how easy it is for Internet users to access. Bypassing Facebook’s vigilance continues to sell gunsoften through private groups.
The problem is, it’s entirely possible for someone to post a gun post, contact an interested customer, and delete the post. Even before Facebook’s audit teams detected the breach. As a reminder, only gun shops are allowed to advertise firearms on the social network, but they cannot sell them directly on Facebook.
It should also be noted that Facebook removes warnings after one year so if you avoid getting suspended long enough, you can delete your page and start running gun ads again.
Facebook defends its anti-gun policy
Facebook says it properly monitors gun sales, and because gun sales are legal in the US, most users don’t even realize they’re breaking the rules. Firearms trading allowed on the platform prior to 2016, but in 2016, under pressure from activists and government agencies trying to enforce gun control, Facebook finally banned such sales. Since then, Twitter, TikTok, and YouTube have done the same.
Facebook spokesperson Andy Stone said in a statement: The company quickly removes posts that violate its no-gun policy and imposes increasingly severe penalties on repeat offenders, including permanent account suspension. The Washington Post article says.
The spokesperson adds: If we find serious violations that could cause harm in the real world, we don’t hesitate to contact law enforcement. In fact, nearly 90% of people who get a warning for violating our firearms policy receive less than two because their violation is unintentional, and they no longer break them when we make them aware of our policies. “.
Source : Washington post
