Facebook Cracks Down On Gun Sale Posts
MIAMI (CBSMiami) –Facebook has unveiled new "enforcement efforts" related to the sale of "regulated items," including guns, on its site.
The social media giant will block minors from seeing postings of gun sales and will take down sales that don't require a background check or cross state lines.
A Facebook spokeswoman said, "private sellers of firearms in the U.S. will not be permitted to specify 'no background check required,' nor can they offer to transact across state lines, without a licensed firearms dealer."
The social networking site says a similar policy will apply to Instagram, its photo-sharing platform.
The new policies will be implemented over the next few weeks.
Facebook will delete gun sale posts that are flagged by users, indicating the post is against Facebook policy. Administrators of pages promoting gun sales will be required to put gun sale information in their "About" section.
Until now, Facebook regulated only paid ads and sponsored stories, which could not promote weapons of any kind. Images of weapons are generally acceptable as long as the weapon is not pointed directly at the viewer. User posts could say almost anything.
Although the focus is on gun sales, the new changes will apply to the promotion of other restricted items like alcohol or adult products.
