Facebook is now allowing sellers to list and advertise non-medical face masks, it announced on Wednesday. In March, it had temporarily banned ads and commerce listings for masks on its apps “to help protect against scams, misleading medical claims, medical supply shortages, inflated prices and hoarding.”
However, it’s maintaining the ban on surgical or N95 masks, in order to prevent people from exploiting the pandemic for financial gain, it said.
“Many health authorities now advise wearing non-medical masks – and in some places masks are required for activities like taking public transportation or visiting a store – and we’ve seen people and businesses of all sizes working to fill this need.
“So we’re scaling back this temporary ban to allow people to promote and trade non-medical masks, including those that are homemade or handmade, in organic posts, ads and commerce listings on Facebook and Instagram.”
Facebook said it was monitoring the pandemic carefully and would continue to reassess its policies over time.
The full announcement can be found on the Facebook for Business blog.
