Facebook is winning high praise from the New York Times’ editorial board for its decision last week to ban all private sales of firearms on both its flagship social media site as well as its photo-sharing site Instagram.
It’s a “very good thing, especially considering the unwillingness of lawmakers in Congress to enact sensible gun safety policies,” the board wrote Monday.
Licensed retailers will still be allowed to post about their inventories, and the latest move by Facebook is meant to affect only private sales.
“Over the last two years, more and more people have been using Facebook to discover products and to buy and sell things to one another,” Facebook head of product policy Monika Bickert said last week as the company announced the new guidelines for firearms sales on the website.
“We are continuing to develop, test, and launch new products to make this experience even better for people, and are updating our regulated goods policies to reflect this evolution,” she added.
Facebook’s community standards team is not expected to enforce the new rules.
“Enforcement would work the same as everything else on Facebook,” a company spokesperson told Fast Company. “We rely on our community of 1.6 billion people to report anything they believe violates our community standards. We review all reports and take action if there is something that is in violation.”
The social media company has in recent years worked in tandem with several notable anti-gun groups, including Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America and Mayors Against Illegal Guns, which were both founded by former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg.
“Its new policy to ban all private sales is … significant,” the Times board said of Facebook’s latest efforts, recounting some of the smaller steps that the social media network had taken in the past to curb the private sale of firearms.
However, the Times added, “Because its users post so many photos, ads, and other information on its site and Instagram, the company will struggle to weed out all private gun ads.” Nevertheless, and despite the size and scope of the chore facing Facebook employees, the Times is happy with the development and hopes it signals that others will follow.
“Of course, Facebook, as big and important as it is, is just one company. There are still many ways for criminals and violent individuals to acquire guns. Only action by Congress can do something about that,” the board wrote.
The Times has made its anti-gun position no secret, and has responded to several recent shootings, included an Islamic terrorist attack in San Bernardino, Calif., by calling on Congress to rein in gun manufactures and owners.
On Dec. 5, for example, the Times published a front-page editorial, the first since 1920, calling on all decent Americans to give up firearms “designed to kill people with brutal speed and efficiency” for “the good of their fellow citizens.”
