A technical issue allowed prohibited items to be listed for sale in Facebook's Marketplace, including a baby hedgehog, guns and drugs. Marketplace is Facebook's latest addition to Messenger, which enables users to place items for sale within the app.
The glitch, which happened just a few hours after Marketplace launched, disabled the filter that was supposed to exclude items that violated Facebook's Commerce Policy.
Social media catches on quickly
The inappropriate items for sale caught social media attention, and screenshots of the said items were shared on Twitter.
A Twitter user shared a listing for five baby hedgehogs, which cost $50.
@amberyouwot they were on Facebook marketplace this morning lol pic.twitter.com/Ew5avraNLB
— Haley Stewart (@Helllllas) September 24, 2016
A seller in New York posted photos of what looked like illegal drugs, which cost $30.
@MikeIsaac back in NY we have to just buy our drugs on Facebook pic.twitter.com/K52j7RUlz7 — Tim Bernal (@tombornal) October 3, 2016
Another screenshot of the Marketplace app featured a handgun for $150 and a dog for $100.
Hey @facebook, #Marketplace is off to a good start. Dogs. Guns. Sweet. pic.twitter.com/NoEpePuV96 — Josh Chace (@JOSHinHD) October 3, 2016
Facebook's response
Facebook was quick to issue a response and apology for the errors. Mary Ku, Facebook's director of product management, said:
"As we expanded Marketplace access, we encountered a technical issue that prevented our reviewing system from identifying some posts that violated our commerce policies and community standards. As a result, certain posts with content that violated our policies were made visible to people visiting Marketplace. We are working to fix the problem and will be closely monitoring our systems to ensure we are properly identifying and removing violations before giving more people access to Marketplace. We apologize for this issue."
Facebook as an e-commerce hub
Before Facebook Marketplace, small businesses and individuals created Facebook Pages and marketed their products, some using paid Facebook ads. With Marketplace, Facebook hopes to provide a seller-friendly platform similar to that of eBay, Craigslist and Amazon.
As for the illegal and weird items currently listed, Facebook ensures that "appropriate action to make Marketplace a safe place for people," reported USA Today. Earlier this year, Facebook changed its policy to ban all sales of private guns using Facebook and Instagram.
