This ban is the addition to Facebook’s announcement on blocking medical masks ads
Facebook is banning ads for sanitizers, disinfectant wipes, and COVID-19 test kits, Rob Leathern, Facebook’s director of product management, said on his Twitter.
In addition to masks, we’re now also banning hand sanitizer, surface disinfecting wipes and COVID-19 test kits in ads and commerce listings. This is another step to help protect against inflated prices and predatory behavior we’re seeing (1/2)
— Rob Leathern (@robleathern) March 19, 2020
From March 20, COVID-19-related products won’t appear on Facebook and Instagram ads. The system will remove not only commercial ads and listings but also organic posts if it notices “abuse around these products” in them.
According to Rob Leathern, Facebook has to tighten the screws on the ads to “help protect against inflated prices and predatory behavior”.
“When you’re dealing with a pandemic, a lot of the stuff we’re seeing just crossed the threshold… It’s easier to set policies that are a little more black and white and take a much harder line.” — Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg told The New York Times earlier.
In March, Facebook also banned ads for medical masks. People were buying those in a panic while health professionals needed them to do their job.
