Amazon bans 1 million products due to claims about coronavirus

E-commerce giant's moves follow Facebook ad ban for similar reasons

Amazon has pulled more than 1 million items from its digital shelves due to claims that the products could either cure or help prevent the spread of coronavirus.

The move comes during the same week that Facebook said it would ban advertisements on its platform for products purporting to cure or curtail the spread of the virus that has so far infected more than 80,000 people, and results in almost 3,000 deaths, mostly in China.

Amazon said has been taking the products in question down throughout the month. The company has also suspended or banned the accounts of thousands of merchants accused of charging exorbitant prices for face masks, disinfectants and other products used to defend against the spread of coronavirus.

“Amazon has always required sellers provide accurate information on product detail pages and we remove those that violate our policies,” said an Amazon spokesperson, in a statement given to this news organization.

Amazon has also added a link that comes up in searches for coronavirus, COVID-19, and other coronavirus-related terms that directs customers to information pages about the disease provided by the Centers for Disease Control

and Prevention.

Around the Bay Area, concerns about coronavirus have impacted the region’s conference business. On Thursday, Facebook cancelled its F8 developers conference, which had been scheduled for May 5-6 in San Jose, and tech research firm IDC cancelled its Directions event, set for March 4 in Santa Clara, because of the fears about the spread of coronavirus across the region.