Facebook Confirms Plans To Prevent Illegal Gun Sales On Site

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Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) wants to stop users from selling or purchasing guns illegally through their website. The company’s chief executive officer Mark Zuckerberg is currently in talks with Moms Demand Action for Gun Sense in America. A representative for Facebook confirmed the report.

Facebook Talks Start

MDA’s founder Shannon Watts explained, “We recently began conversations with Facebook about what they can do to end the easy access to guns on its platform — because until they do, they are taking the risk that they are facilitating the illegal sale of guns on their social network.”

What is prompting Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to take action over this matter? There have been several recent stories involving illegal gun purchased via the popular social media website. One of the most notable incidences involved an Ohio man who sold a gun to a 15-year-old boy he met on Facebook Inc (NASDAQ:FB). There as another case when one Iowa man was busted over guns that were acquired illegally.

The social media giant made a recent statement saying that nobody was actually buying or selling guns through their website as there is no e-commerce transaction system to work with.

Concerns Over Facebook’s Latest Buy-up

In other Facebook-related news, everybody is talking about the company’s recent purchase of WhatsApp. On the surface, it seems like a pretty great win for the company, however it looks like Zuckerberg may end up paying a heftier price than the initial $19 billion he paid to acquire the company. Reuters explained, “It’s a twist that is sure to have some telecom bosses in Barcelona gritting their teeth. WhatsApp and its fellow messaging apps, including China’s WeChat and Israel’s Viber, have punched a hole in operators’ sales by offering a free alternative to text messages, a $120 billion market for operators. Research group Ovum said telcos lost $32 billion in text revenue last year and will lose $54 billion by 2016.”

via: BuzzFeed

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