In letter to Zuckerberg, Senators call recent reports of Meta’s lax enforcement of gun sales ban “deeply disturbing,” argue that an unenforced ban is no ban at all

Washington (June 24, 2022) – Senators Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.), Bob Menendez (D-N.J.), and Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) today pressed Meta Chairman and CEO Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook Marketplace’s lax enforcement of its own gun sales ban on its e-commerce platform. According to details first reported by The Washington Post, users who violate the platform’s ban on gun sales are given ten ‘strikes’ before they are removed from the platform, allowing for repeated violations that could still result in the sale of untraceable and dangerous firearms. 

“According to the Post’s reporting, despite previous assurances that Facebook would prohibit firearms sales on its social media platforms, Facebook allows gun sellers and buyers to violate its policy 10 times before Facebook removes them from its platform,” the senators write in a letter to Mark Zuckerberg. “If this reporting is accurate, it is deeply disturbing and calls into question Facebook’s commitment to stopping online gun sales and its representations to us about its policies.

The senators have written Facebook in the past about its facilitation of online gun sales. For example, in 2016, after Facebook announced a ban on private gun sales, when it was discovered that users were still engaged in those transactions; and in 2020, when a report documented Facebook’s failure to track down and remove gun sellers who simply moved to new private groups when Facebook shut them down.

“Now, with the United States facing an unrelenting gun violence epidemic, Facebook reportedly continues to allow users to sell firearms on its platform after repeated violations of its ban on peer-to-peer firearms sales. An unenforced ban is no ban at all, and simply invites more of the purportedly prohibited conduct,” added the senators.

The senators expressed deep concerns that gun sales on Facebook — or advertised sales posted online but negotiated and concluded offline — may circumvent or violate state and federal laws, resulting in numerous unlawful sales of handguns, assault weapons, and other firearms.

“We urge you to take immediate measures to meaningfully and effectively enforce your prohibition on firearms sales. Giving users multiple opportunities to sell weapons that can end up in the wrong hands is a loophole that calls into question Facebook’s representations about and commitment to ending gun sales on its platform. Facebook must do better,” concluded the senators.

A copy of the letter can be found HERE.

The Senators request responses from Meta to questions including:

• Does Facebook prohibit gun sales on its service, and what documentation explains this policy?
• What was the strike threshold before 2020 and why was the 10-strike threshold reduced?
• What is the company’s policy for sharing information about its 10-strike strike system with the public?
• Why did the company revise its initial five-strike removal policy and institute a 10-strike policy?
• How many times has Facebook immediately removed a post that has made a direct or credible threat to kill a specific person and made a law-enforcement referral based on the threat?
• How many referrals has the company made to law enforcement overall?
• How has the Oversight Board pushed Facebook to give users more information about the number of strikes assessed against them and the consequences for violating the rules? How has Facebook responded, and why?
• What instructions or guidance are given to Facebook’s content moderators about its policies on banning users who repeatedly seek to buy or sell guns?

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