#Facebook temporarily bans ads, listings for medical face masks amid #coronavirus outbreak

Facebook on Friday announced it is temporarily banning ads and commerce listings selling medical face masks as the company continues to grapple with the reaction of its users to the outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus.

Facebook Director of Product Management Rob Leathern announced the change in a Friday tweet. The social media giant will begin to enforce the temporary ban on these type of ads “over the next few days,” the company said in a blog post.

“We’re banning ads and commerce listings selling medical face masks,” said Leathern, who leads the product team that enforces ad and business policies across the company’s services. “We’re monitoring COVID19 closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency. We’ll start rolling out this change in the days ahead.”