Facebook said Friday it will temporarily ban advertisements and commerce listings for medical face masks to prevent sellers from exploiting the ongoing global coronavirus outbreak.
Company executives announced the restrictions will start to be enforced in the coming days and apply to both Facebook’s namesake social network and its sister service Instagram.
“Supplies are short, prices are up, and we’re against people exploiting this public health emergency,” Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri explained on Twitter.
The company’s decision to temporarily ban ads and listings, which includes items posted for sale on the social network’s Marketplace service, came amid a heightened demand for face masks and other supplies caused by growing concerns of the potentially deadly coronavirus reaching pandemic proportions.
It also follows similar efforts by internet retailer Amazon and online auction site eBay, who separately took measures Thursday targeting the sale of overpriced medical masks. Amazon said it removed more than a million products that either falsely claimed to defend against the coronavirus or were being offered at inflated prices, while eBay said it was banning the sale of masks, hand sanitizer and disinfecting wipes effective immediately.
Facebook announced last month it was banning advertisements on its platform for products that falsely claim to cure or prevent the novel coronavirus, also known as COVID-19.
More than 100,000 people have contracted the virus since its discovery in December in Wuhan, China, according to the World Health Organization.
• Andrew Blake can be reached at ablake@washingtontimes.com.
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