Banning Guns Seems To Increase The Number Of Guns Sold On Facebook

When Facebook announced at the end of January that it was banning the sale of guns on the social networking platform (as well as on Facebook-owned Instagram), the company stated that it would rely on user reports to catch violators of the policy.

According to an investigative report from Forbes, it would appear that, six weeks after that announcement, the new rules aren’t having much of an effect.

A reporter for the outlet gained access to more than two dozen private groups (the mode that private gun sellers have adopted, moving away from public groups, in the wake of the Facebook ban) and engaged in firearms purchases, many of which, the story details, are initiated by group members posting photos of the weapons without explicitly stating that they are for sale and relying on private messages to complete the transactions.

As Forbes points out, Facebook’s current reliance on users reporting gun sales on the platform appears to be largely ineffective given that the vast majority of those who gain access to the now-private forums (some of which, shares the outlet, are relatively small in membership numbers, while others count members in the thousands) for such transactions — and, therefore, have the ability to prove their existence to Facebook — are (unlike the reporter) legitimate firearm enthusiasts who resultantly are disinclined to do so.

Jodi Seth, director of policy communications for Facebook, acknowledged to Forbes that the system isn’t “perfect,” adding that it “will not be our last policy update. We’ll continue to think about how we can do this better … We’re always trying to find ways to improve the process.”

Facebook tells Forbes that it has shut down several groups since implementing its policy change but did not share specific numbers in that regard.

Shannon Watts, founder of Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America, who had praised Facebook’s private gun sale ban at the time it was announced, remarked to Forbes: “It’s not going to be a perfect system. It is the Internet. But, ultimately, Facebook has to figure out what’s the right process to keep guns off their platform.”

“[Gun control] is a national problem, and it requires congressional action,” Watts continued. “In the meantime, we have to do the best we can to save lives. We are grateful Facebook has taken a stand.”