- Tech
-
-
Tech
The gadgets, platforms, and software that make your digital life possible. if it bleeps, clicks or blinks, you’ll find it here.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Pinterest is reportedly blocking vaccination searches Wednesday 2:53 PM
- Nike’s self-lacing smart sneakers malfunction days after release Wednesday 2:50 PM
- The simple way to connect Apple TV and HomePod Wednesday 5:00 AM
- Did Elon Musk just host PewDiePie’s meme review? Tuesday 8:53 AM
- YouTube is fueling the rise in flat earth believers Monday 11:04 AM
-
-
-
- Internet Culture
-
-
Internet Culture
There’s a community for everyone online.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- The truth behind the anti-LGBTQ emoji controversy Wednesday 1:37 PM
- John Mayer steps in to Photoshop Diplo’s Instagram Wednesday 9:28 AM
- This Kickstarter needs $4,000 to digitally erase the rat from ‘The Departed’ Wednesday 8:07 AM
- Bernie Sanders memes resurface after 2020 bid announcement Wednesday 6:27 AM
- The ‘Well yes, but actually no’ meme is here to help you explain things Tuesday 12:07 PM
-
-
-
- Streaming
-
-
Streaming
You’ve cut the cord—now what?
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Report: Disney yanks YouTube ad spending following child exploitation accusations Wednesday 7:56 PM
- These people are organizing Fyre Fest live-action role-play parties Wednesday 6:35 PM
- Stop exploiting the Jussie Smollett case to discredit LGBTQ hate crime victims Wednesday 3:28 PM
- The best Netflix original movies of 2019 Wednesday 3:20 PM
- Tristan Thompson disables Instagram comments after reports he cheated on Khloe Kardashian Wednesday 11:25 AM
-
-
-
- IRL
-
-
IRL
Where your off- and online identities collide.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- These people are organizing Fyre Fest live-action role-play parties Wednesday 6:35 PM
- White woman berates Mexican restaurant manager for speaking Spanish Wednesday 4:12 PM
- Stop exploiting the Jussie Smollett case to discredit LGBTQ hate crime victims Wednesday 3:28 PM
- The truth behind the anti-LGBTQ emoji controversy Wednesday 1:37 PM
- Introducing ‘boner culture,’ this Gamergate blogger’s latest cause Wednesday 11:16 AM
-
-
-
- Social
-
-
Social
If it happens online, it’s here.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Report: Disney yanks YouTube ad spending following child exploitation accusations Wednesday 7:56 PM
- These people are organizing Fyre Fest live-action role-play parties Wednesday 6:35 PM
- White woman berates Mexican restaurant manager for speaking Spanish Wednesday 4:12 PM
- In Pixar short ‘Kitbull,’ a cat and pit bull become unlikely friends Wednesday 3:48 PM
- Stop exploiting the Jussie Smollett case to discredit LGBTQ hate crime victims Wednesday 3:28 PM
-
-
-
- Bazaar
-
-
Bazaar
The Bazaar specializes in the stuff you don’t actually need…but you really, really want.
-
Categories
-
-
Latest
- Allow your wallet to be your spirit guide during this rad anime sale Tuesday 10:43 AM
- 14 artsy cartoon mugs that’ll help make your days more creative Monday 12:15 PM
- Get your nerd on with ThinkGeek’s Funko Pop B2G1 sale Monday 3:00 AM
- Play all your NES games in high def with the Hyperkin RetroN HD Tuesday 8:39 AM
- The Introvert Activity Book is perfect for those who find solace in alone time Monday 11:30 AM
-
-
-
- More
- Search
See all Editor's Picks →
See all Popular →
Represented by Complex Media, Inc. for advertising sales.
Privacy Policy Terms & Conditions Ethics
Latest
- Report: Disney yanks YouTube ad spending following child exploitation accusations Wednesday 7:56 PM
- These people are organizing Fyre Fest live-action role-play parties Wednesday 6:35 PM
- White woman berates Mexican restaurant manager for speaking Spanish Wednesday 4:12 PM
- In Pixar short ‘Kitbull,’ a cat and pit bull become unlikely friends Wednesday 3:48 PM
- Stop exploiting the Jussie Smollett case to discredit LGBTQ hate crime victims Wednesday 3:28 PM
- The best Netflix original movies of 2019 Wednesday 3:20 PM
- Pinterest is reportedly blocking vaccination searches Wednesday 2:53 PM
- Nike’s self-lacing smart sneakers malfunction days after release Wednesday 2:50 PM
- How to quickly get the Havoc weapon in Apex Legends Wednesday 2:48 PM
- The truth behind the anti-LGBTQ emoji controversy Wednesday 1:37 PM
- Tristan Thompson disables Instagram comments after reports he cheated on Khloe Kardashian Wednesday 11:25 AM
- Introducing ‘boner culture,’ this Gamergate blogger’s latest cause Wednesday 11:16 AM
- HBO debuts trailer for controversial Michael Jackson doc ‘Leaving Neverland’ Wednesday 10:46 AM
- Christian woman refuses to do taxes for lesbian married couple Wednesday 10:43 AM
- Political campaigns will be snooping on your phones in 2020 Wednesday 10:43 AM
Facebook user says he was suspended for reporting gun sales
Even though individual gun sales are against Facebook’s Community Standards.
Does Facebook know its own rules?
According to Facebook’s Community Standards, it prohibits “any attempts by private individuals to purchase, sell, or trade prescription drugs, marijuana, firearms or ammunition.” And yet, multiple users are claiming that, when they’ve reported private individuals posting guns for sale, Facebook says it’s not a violation.
Mike Monteiro tweeted about the issue on July 4, saying he was suspended from Facebook for reporting these violations to the platform.
I asked Facebook how they were monitoring gun sales. They said they rely on users reporting them. I started reporting them. They banned me.
— Mike Monteiro (@monteiro) July 4, 2016
He and others appeared to have successfully campaigned for a number of gun-sale and swap groups to be removed from Facebook. However, he says Facebook found that others did not violate its rules, even though they all seemed to be private individuals or groups offering guns and ammunition for sale or trade.
“I’ve reported a few hundred pages. But there are people up there in the thousands,” Monteiro told the Daily Dot. “They’re amazing. I’ve flagged posts, photos, groups, companies.”
Monteiro said Facebook has now suspended his account three times, and for a short time banned him from flagging posts. “We’re all experiencing the same thing. Those reports get funneled to a team of people. There seems to be a large amount of bias going on,” he said.
@monteiro And +10 more, 45 for the day. Happy and safe 4th of July everyone! pic.twitter.com/bnwta4UVTX
— Denice (@ecined) July 5, 2016
@monteiro just got blocked for a day after reporting only four pages. New tactic I suppose.
— Paul J Engel (@pj_engel) July 5, 2016
Leslie Poston said she was inspired to start reporting Facebook pages after seeing Monteiro’s tweets. “Both individuals and gun shops came up in my search for gun sales on Facebook, as well as a few questionable gun related items,” she told the Daily Dot. Facebook told her sale offers on pages like “Gun Porn and General Awesomeness” did not violate its terms.
Facebook updated its Community Guidelines to prohibit gun sales in January. “The social network, with 1.6 billion monthly visitors, had become one of the world’s largest marketplaces for guns and was increasingly evolving into an e-commerce site where it could facilitate transactions of goods,” wrote the New York Times. However, according to Forbes, Facebook Director of Engineering Chuck Rossi is a gun enthusiast, and “has harnessed his technical expertise and internal connections to help gun groups get reinstated after they were shut down for violating Facebook’s new ban on gun sales.”
Many people are also using workarounds to hide their sales from Facebook. “For example, people will post a photo of a soda can next to a rifle and then claim they’re selling the soda can for $750,” said Monteiro, by not using words like “gun” or “rifle” in the post, or by posting in groups that don’t explicitly specialize in guns.
@monteiro @facebook apparently all you have to do is call them “bang bangs” instead of guns and you’re just fine pic.twitter.com/D8UXhOl104
— Reagan Kelly (@reagank) July 5, 2016

Screenshot via Facebook

Screenshot via Facebook

Screenshot via Facebook
The Daily Dot has reached out to Facebook about the issue, but has not heard back as of this posting. Aside from the workarounds, the Community Guidelines only prohibit attempts by “private individuals.” It’s likely that some of Poston’s flagging didn’t work because she flagged pages like GunBroker.com and Gun Bed, a product sold by the company itself, not an individual. Even if they’re reported, gun stores and online retailers can list their sales on their Facebook pages.

Jaya Saxena
Jaya Saxena is a lifestyle writer and editor whose work focuses primarily on women's issues and web culture. Her writing has appeared in GQ, ELLE, the Toast, the New Yorker, Tthe Hairpin, BuzzFeed, Racked, Eater, Catapult, and others. She is the co-author of 'Dad Magazine,' the author of 'The Book Of Lost Recipes,' and the co-author of 'Basic Witches.'