Facebook has banned all ads for medical face masks in a bid to curb price gouging amid the widespread corona virus panic.
Facebook’s Director of Product Management Rob Leathern, tweeted, “We’re monitoring COVID19 closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency. We’ll start rolling out this change in the days ahead.”
A Facebook spokesperson said in a statement to TechCrunch, “We are temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings that sell medical face masks.”
They added, “Our teams are monitoring the COVID19 situation closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency.”
In addition to face masks, Facebook will also limit ads for any other medical products which fuel rumours of limited supply in order to create urgency among prospective buyers.
Facebook will also restrict ads that promote pseudosciene, or corona virus “prevention/cures” products.
Soon after this, Facebook will tweak its recommendations algorithm to block any and all coronavirus-themed groups and pages.
Other platforms are also scrambling to control misinformation and price gouging as fears of coronavirus spread worldwide.
E-commerce giant, Amazon, is removing “high priced offers” on products such as hand sanitizer and face masks from its platform.
Online auction site, E-bay has banned listing of products such as face masks, hand sanitiser and alcohol wipes. It also rejects listings misusing terms such as COVID-19 and coronavirus.
Related article: Facebook cancels F8 Developer Conference 2020 due to coronavirus
Facebook recently announced that it would priority list information from the World Health Organization (WHO) and local health authorities at the top of coronavirus-related search results.
“Given the developing situation, we’re working with national ministries of health and organizations like the WHO, CDC and UNICEF to help them get out timely, accurate information on the coronavirus,” Mark Zuckerberg wrote in an update on his company’s efforts.
He added, “We’re giving the WHO as many free ads as they need for their coronavirus response along with other in-kind support.”
Facebook is set to minimise any potentially life-threatening coronavirus misinformation, removing ads, conspiracy theories and treatment claims with no scientific basis.
Health authorities have urged the general public not to purchase masks, as it is limits the supply available to medical workers who actually need them.
