Facebook puts temporary ban on medical face mask ads

US: Social networking giant Facebook announced Friday that it is temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings that sell medical face masks in view of the public health emergency related to the novel coronavirus outbreak.

In a blog post, Facebook said, "We are temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings, like those on Marketplace, that sell medical face masks. We'll begin to enforce this change over the next few days. We already prohibit people from making health or medical claims related to the coronavirus in product listings on commerce surfaces, including those listings that guarantee a product will prevent someone from contracting it."

"We also have a dedicated channel for local governments to share listings they believe violate local laws. Our teams are monitoring the COVID-19 situation closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency,"

Facebook Director of Product Management Rob Leathern also shared the update via his official Twitter handle, saying "We're banning ads and commerce listings selling medical face masks. We're monitoring COVID19 closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency."

Facebook is closely coordinating with leading national and global organizations like the WHO, CDC, UNICEF to keep people safe and informed on COVID-19. The social networking giant is actively working to stop hoaxes and harmful misinformation related to the coronavirus.

"We're focused on making sure everyone can access credible and accurate information. This is critical in any emergency, but it's especially important when there are precautions you can take to reduce the risk of infection. If you search for coronavirus on Facebook, you'll see a pop-up that directs you to the World Health Organization or your local health authority for the latest information. If you're in a country where the WHO has reported person-to-person transmission, you'll also see it in your News Feed," Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this week.