Facebook Marketplace Becomes Black Market for Drugs, Guns - and a Baby Anthony Cuthbertson - Newsweek
go to original October 11, 2016

Less than one day after the recent launch of its Marketplace feature, Facebook was forced to apologize for the appearance of drugs and other illegal listings. (Reuters)

Facebook launched Marketplace early this month, offering users the opportunity to buy and sell items within their local community. On the day of its launch, the eBay and Craigslist competitor was already being used to list adult services, animals, drugs and other items that breach Facebook’s policies.

“Facebook is where people connect, and in recent years more people have been using Facebook to connect in another way: buying and selling with each other,” Mary Ku, Director of Product Management, said in a blogpost at the time. “Marketplace makes it easy to find new things you’ll love, and find a new home for the things you’re ready to part with.”

Users took to social media to report listings on Marketplace, which included a hedgehog, a gun, a snake and a baby.

In a statement provided to Newsweek, Facebook said the listings were the result of a “technical issue,” and apologized to any users affected.

Read the rest at Newsweek

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