Facebook, Instagram Announce New Educational & Enforcement Measures Regarding Firearms

Monika Bickert, Head of Global Policy Management for Facebook

Facebook
Facebook

USA – -(Ammoland.com)- Facebook, at its heart, is about helping people connect and communicate.

Because of the diversity of people and cultures on our services, we know that people sometimes post or share things that may be controversial or objectionable.

We work hard to find a balance between enabling people to express themselves about topics that are important to them, and creating an environment that is safe and respectful.

This balance is important to how we view commercial activity on Facebook or Instagram. We have strict rules about how businesses can use our advertising tools. For example, we do not permit advertising for illegal drugs, tobacco products, prescription pharmaceuticals, weapons, and several other products and services, and restrict advertising for products such as alcohol, adult products, and gaming. In all cases, we have systems in place to review and remove advertising that violates our policies, is false, deceptive, or misleading.

Of course, most of our tools are free to use, and many people and organizations use them to establish a presence on Facebook, including to promote commercial transactions. While people can’t use our services to actually sell things to each other, they can set up a Page or make an occasional post to their Timeline to find a roommate, sell a home, or solicit contributions for a church or nonprofit organization. Just like posting on a bulletin board at a supermarket or community center, these activities may be considered commercial, but we treat this type of sharing like any other type of sharing on our services – and we respond to reports when something violates our Community Standards.

People sometimes use our free tools to discuss products that are regulated or controversial. In some cases they promote these products for sale or use, even though it’s not possible to complete a sale on Facebook or Instagram. While we’ve recently heard specific concerns from people about offers for the private sales of firearms, this is one of many areas where we face a difficult challenge balancing individuals’ desire to express themselves on our services, and recognizing that this speech may have consequences elsewhere.

Today, we are introducing a series of new educational and enforcement efforts for people discussing the private sale of regulated items:

  • Any time we receive a report on Facebook about a post promoting the private sale of a commonly regulated item, we will send a message to that person reminding him or her to comply with relevant laws and regulations. We will also limit access to that post to people over the age of 18.
  • We will require Pages that are primarily used by people to promote the private sale of commonly regulated goods or services to include language that clearly reminds people of the importance of understanding and complying with relevant laws and regulations, and limit access to people over the age of 18 or older if required by applicable law.
  • We will provide special in-app education on Instagram for those who search for sales or promotions of firearms.
  • We will not permit people to post offers to sell regulated items that indicate a willingness to evade or help others evade the law. For example, 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.

We have worked with a number of individuals and organizations on the development of these efforts, which will be implemented and enforced in the coming weeks. We are grateful in particular for the advice offered by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Sandy Hook Promise, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and Moms Demand Action, (Editors Note: All groups are active Gun Ban Organizations] which helped us develop an approach for the private sale of firearms. We also appreciate the feedback provided by the Facebook Safety Advisory Board.

As always, we encourage people who see anything that violates our policies to report it to us using the tools found throughout our services. Facebook and Instagram will continue to remove content, and notify law enforcement where appropriate, when we are notified about things shared on our services that suggest a direct, credible risk to others’ safety. We will also continue to strictly enforce our advertising policies.

We believe these collective efforts represent the right approach in balancing people’s desire to express themselves while promoting a safe, responsible community.

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KewlDadiJay

More crap from FB. Get out of the politics, and get rid of the spam.

BigR

Facebook is a venue where people want to be noticed. They also like to show off! At first I signed up, because a friend said it was a good way to keep in touch. Boy, did I screw up. I deleted myself from the FB as soon as I realized what was going on. Facebook is for losers, trying to act like winners!

Lava

Gah! They got advice from all the antigun groups they could get?!!
Let’s hope Monika Bickert let them know they got advice from the wrong persons (which we suspect was on purpose).
Somebody should start a petition or boycott.

Hey! Gun owners could start a site competing with Facebook!

John

@Herb,
I’ll admit it, you got me at first. Then I LMFAO!

Ranchman

Every patriotic American should delete their FaceBook page immediately. They are working against the best interests of all of us.

Herb

If anybody knows about responsible citizenship, telling the truth and protecting the innocent, it has to be “New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, Americans for Responsible Solutions, Sandy Hook Promise, Mayors Against Illegal Guns, and Moms Demand Action.” I congratulate and commend especially those brilliant minds that came up with the school lockdown procedures also practiced in other places like where you work and shopping malls. In case you didn’t know, the lockdown procedure is essentially the same as an ostrich putting its head in the sand when confronted with danger. In the case of the Connecticut State Police who… Read more »

John

If you want to engage in legal commerce, without arbitrary rules set by internet service providers, maybe it’s time to go back to using telephones and fax machines. And the NSA can stay busy deciphering all the “meta-data”. LOL