Facebook apologized after their new Marketplace feature was hit with an error that prevented the company from identifying listings of drugs, sex, weapons, animals, and even people for sale.
“Certain posts with content that violated our policies were made visible to people visiting Marketplace,” said Facebook’s director of product management, Mary Ku. “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.”
After blaming the wave of forbidden listings on a technical error, Ku stated that the company would take “appropriate action to make Marketplace a safe place for people.”
Facebook Marketplace, which was launched in four countries this week, allows users to buy and sell items on the platform using an auction system, also permitting people to look for listings on a map of their nearby area.
Drugs, tobacco, weapons, ammunition, explosives, animals, “adult” items, sexual services, alcohol, certain health items, and all kinds of services, subscriptions, digital products, and rentals are banned from the platform.
Charlie Nash is a reporter for Breitbart Tech. You can follow him on Twitter @MrNashington or like his page at Facebook.