Facebook has decided to temporarily ban advertisements for medical face masks as part of an effort to prevent the use of its platform to exploit people’s concerns about the new coronavirus.
According to media reports, the ban covers advertisements on the social media platform as well as commercial listings on Facebook Marketplace.
Facebook said it would begin to enforce the ban over the next few days.
“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,” Rob Leathern, Facebook’s director of product management, said in a statement.
Earlier, Facebook banned advertisements referring to any cures or prevention around the coronavirus outbreak, and those that create a sense of urgency around the situation.
The coronavirus disease, believed to have originated in the Chinese city of Wuhan late last year, has killed more than 3000 people all over world.
Last month, Facebook said that it would remove content about the virus “with false claims or conspiracy theories that have been flagged by leading global health organizations and local health authorities”, joining companies like TikTok and Pinterest.
