Social sites crack down on guns, vape

Facebook, Instagram ban ‘branded content’ of vaping products, firearms

Facebook has promised it will crack down even harder on the promotion of vaping and tobacco products and guns on its social media platform, announcing Wednesday that so-called “influencers” on both Facebook and Instagram will no longer be allowed to run branded content that promotes vaping, or e-cigarettes, any kind of tobacco product, or firearms.

The move closes what had been a loophole in the social-media giant’s advertising policies. While Facebook did not allow outright advertising of such products, advertisers were able to get around the regulations by sponsoring content tposted on influencers’ pages, photos or videos. The influencers were able to make money off such branded content deals.

“As we invest in ways to help creators partner more effectively with brands, it’s also important that we have tools and policies that provide transparency and protect our community,” Instagram said in a statement announcing the change in policy. “Our advertising policies have long prohibited the advertisement of these products, and we will begin enforcement on this in the coming weeks.”

The ban will not extend to branded content for products such as alcohol or diet supplements. However, Instagram said those products would require “special restrictions” to conform to new policies that will take effect next year as the company rolls out new tools that will let content creators put age restrictions and other limits on who can see their content.

Facebook isn’t the only major Bay Area company that has recently sought to distance itself from the e-cigarette and vaping industry. In November, Apple said it would ban all vaping-related apps from its App Store, and removed 181 apps tied to e-cigarette use.