This weekend, coronavirus cases in the UK surpassed 270, leading to widespread panic about the spread of the disease.
Many worried people have rushed out to buy face masks, despite the fact that experts have advised that these are ineffective at protecting you from the disease.
Now, Facebook has taken the decision to ban users from selling face masks on its platform, in the hopes of preventing coronavirus exploitation.
Kang-Xing Jin, Head of Health at Facebook explained: “We are temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings, like those on Marketplace, that sell medical face masks.
“We already prohibit people from making health or medical claims related to the coronavirus in product listings on commerce surfaces, including those listings that guarantee a product will prevent someone from contracting it.”
Mr Jin added that Facebook is monitoring the situation closely and will make updates as and when they’re needed.
He said: “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.
The change will be enforced ‘over the next few days.’
Facebook isn’t the only tech giant to restrict sales of face masks amid the outbreak.
Amazon has removed 530,000 offers from the marketplace for coronavirus-based price gouging and suspended more than 2,500 seller accounts in its US marketplace for violating its policies.
Meanwhile, eBay is banning sales from US listings for hand sanitizer, disinfecting wipes and face masks to stop a surge in price gouging.
