Facebook has said it is cracking down on online gun sales according to Reuters and The New York Times.
Gun control groups have argued Facebook and other online sites are often used by unlicensed sellers and buyers who are not legally eligible to get guns.
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The prohibition, announced on Friday, will also apply to its photo-sharing network Instagram and will stop the networks being used to conduct gun sales between private individuals.
Facebook won’t be scanning through your private messages to uncover gun sales. Also important: this doesn’t apply to posts from licensed gun dealers, which will continue to be permitted on the social network.
It updates Facebook’s regulated goods policy, introduced in March 2014, that banned people from selling marijuana, pharmaceuticals and illegal drugs.
That same year, there had been some firearms restrictions, with Facebook saying it would block children from seeing posts that advertised guns.
But the social network did not ban private sales at that time.
Licensed firearms retailers can still promote their businesses on Facebook, but they are not allowed to accept orders or make sales on the site.
Facebook isn’t alone in this aspect when it comes to banning guns. Both Craigslist and Amazon have banned the sale of guns from their platforms, and EBay has a very strict policy when dealing in the sale and transport of weapons and ammunition. For example, whole firearms cannot be sold on eBay, but parts of them can.
The National Rifle Association, a lobbying group opposed to limits on US gun ownership rights, did not immediately comment.
