NRA Declares Victory in Battle Over Gun Sales on Facebook
by Richard Rowe
Ostensibly,
the NRA cares about your freedoms and rights. In particular, the right
to own firearms. More specifically, it supports your right to BUY
firearms -- anywhere, anytime and of any type. Of course, that's just
what you'd expect from an organization that is at this point little more
than the public relations and lobbying arm of about two dozen gun
manufacturers -- and they pay the NRA to win. Even when it doesn't,
entirely.
On Wednesday, Facebook issued a press release
stating that it would take steps to curb the sale of firearms through
public posts. They did so under pressure from a number of organizations,
including but not limited to the powerful Mayors Against Illegal Guns
and Moms Demand Action (of Texas standoff
fame). Facebook has become the burning center of a debate on the
illegal sale of firearms through social media sites -- a vector that has
far and away replaced gun shows as a means of moving guns on the
secondary market.
Effectively, Facebook has agreed to...enforce its own policies.
Facebook has for some time prohibited paid advertisements for weapons,
drugs and tobacco products, but has a history of turning a blind eye to
posts advertising the sale of any of these controlled items or anything
else it deems "controversial." According to Monica Bickert of Facebook's
global policy management:
[box
type="shadow"]"Facebook, at its heart, is about helping people connect
and communicate. Because of the diversity of people and cultures on our
services, we know that people sometimes post or share things that may be
controversial or objectionable. We work hard to find a balance between
enabling people to express themselves about topics that are important to
them, and creating an environment that is safe and respectful. This
balance is important to how we view commercial activity on Facebook or
Instagram.
Any
time we receive a report on Facebook about a post promoting the private
sale of a commonly regulated item, we will send a message to that
person reminding him or her to comply with relevant laws and
regulations. We will also limit access to that post to people over the
age of 18.
We
will require Pages that are primarily used by people to promote the
private sale of commonly regulated goods or services to include language
that clearly reminds people of the importance of understanding and
complying with relevant laws and regulations, and limit access to people
over the age of 18 or older if required by applicable law.
We will provide special in-app education on Instagram for those who search for sales or promotions of firearms.[/box]
Initially,
Facebook said that it would "continue to remove content, and notify law
enforcement where appropriate, when we are notified about things shared
on our services that suggest a direct, credible risk to others’
safety."
It also said it would "continue to strictly enforce its advertising policies." Shocking.
Today, the NRA issued a press release declaring victory
in The Battle of Facebook Hill (which oddly enough hasn't yet involved
NRA "corporate partner" and mercenary group, Blackwater.) According to
the NRA's press release:
[box
type="shadow"]"The NRA enjoys 150 times more support on Facebook than
Michael Bloomberg’s Mayors Against Illegal Guns. That’s why Bloomberg
and the gun control groups he funds tried to pressure Facebook into
shutting down discussion of Second Amendment issues on its social media
platforms."[/box]
For
certain, gun control activists didn't get everything they were after
insofar as taking steps to reduce the number of guns sold on Facebook;
while New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said "Facebook has
taken real, concrete steps to stop illegal gun sales on their site,"
it's hard for gun control advocates to feel so excited over what amounts
to a simple enforcement of existing policies.
In that regard, the NRA does have something to crow about. Facebook didn't outright ban gun sales.
But that doesn't mean it won't.
The
journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step, and so is often
the way with policy changes in large organizations like Facebook. It's
worth bearing in mind that most gun control advocates only want
background checks to make sure the government's pre-existing ownership
policies are actually enforced -- which principally isn't so different
from what Facebook is doing now.
The
point is that, despite pressure from the arms industry, via the NRA,
Facebook has officially acknowledged the problem and has created
policies to deal with it. That's a far cry from the turning of blind
eyes that the NRA would prefer, and far from the completely unregulated
sale of firearms that it REALLY wants.
After
all, people who sell used guns usually use the money for new guns...and
the NRA's Prime Directive at this point is to sell new guns.
Also, something about safety and responsibility, yadda yadda yadda.
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