Facebook bans sales of Amazon land on its apps
>>CALIFORNIA: Facebook has said it will stop allowing the sale of land in Amazon rainforest conservation areas at marketplaces on the social network or its Instagram and WhatsApp services.
The announcement came as Facebook defends itself against accusations that it has long put profit over societal good, and caused some online to question why it had allowed sales of precious rainforest land in the first place.
“We are updating our commerce policies to explicitly prohibit the buying or selling of land of any type in ecological conservation areas on our commerce products across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp,” it said in a post.
“Protected areas are crucial for conserving habitats and ecosystems and are critical to tackling the global nature crisis.”
Facebook focused the news on the Amazon rainforest, saying it planned to ramp up the effort.
It said it will review listings at its online Marketplace against an authoritative database of protected areas to identify and block listings for sales of land there.
“Wait, this is something that was happening?” read a tweeted reply to Facebook sharing the announcement at its verified Twitter account.
The sale of land in conservation areas happens on other platforms and offline, but Facebook said it is trying to banish it from its family of apps.