Facebook and image-sharing site Instagram are temporarily banning advertisements and commercial listings for medical face masks amid growing concerns of market exploitation.
“We’re monitoring COVID19 closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency,” Rob Leathern, Facebook director of product management said in a tweet. “We’ll start rolling out this change in the days ahead.”
The World Health Organization (WHO) earlier said that the people are panic-buying critical resources like medical face masks and other essential equipment leading to a shortage of protective equipment for healthcare workers around the world. This can lead to putting the lives of people at risk from the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) and other infectious diseases.
Facebook earlier announced a ban on medical supplies ads which falsely suggest an item is in limited supply. The social media giant is also banning fake “cures” or prevention methods for COVID-19. Coronavirus-themed Pages and Groups will also be blocked from its algorithms. This ban would also take effect in Instagram. “Supplies are short, prices are up, and we’re against people exploiting this public health emergency,” tweeted Instagram head Adam Mosseri.
Consequently, Google is also banning medical face mask ads following days after Facebook did the same in its platform.
With additional reports from: The Philippine Star, Search Engine Journal, CBS News, The Verge,
Photo Courtesy: Google.com, Twin Design – Shutterstock
