Facebook is making an attempt to cease the sale of Amazon rainforest land on its Marketplace

Did you realize you possibly can promote land on Facebook Marketplace? No? Neither did I. Did you realize folks had been making an attempt to promote land within the Amazon rainforest on Marketplace? Again, neither did I! Selling land in ecological conservation areas is usually unlawful and might have unfavourable impacts on the flora, fauna, and other people dwelling there, so Facebook announced Friday that it’s altering its commerce insurance policies to explicitly prohibit the sale of protected land on Facebook and its Instagram and WhatsApp platforms.

Facebook’s announcement comes after a February BBC investigation into its Marketplace that discovered folks illegally offered massive plots of land within the Brazilian Amazon rainforest on Facebook’s Craigslist various. The plots had been continuously offered with out an official land title designating possession, pushed by the deforestation of the Amazon brought on by the Brazilian cattle trade, the BBC discovered.

The social community didn’t need to independently cease the unlawful sale of land within the Amazon initially as a result of Facebook’s “commerce policies require buyers and sellers to comply with laws and regulations,” the corporate advised the BBC in February. Now a number of months (and scandals) later, Facebook is taking a more durable stance. “Listings may not promote the buying or selling of animals or animal products, or land in ecological conservation areas,” Facebook’s updated policy reads. The firm additionally plans to cross-reference listings in opposition to a database of protected land to establish anybody that violates its coverage.

The transfer is finally an excellent one, even when it is delayed. It’s simply the timing that makes it unusual. In the previous few weeks, Facebook’s handled leaked analysis, a whistleblower actively calling out the corporate’s supposed hypocrisy, and a significant international outage. Stopping the sale of the Amazon rainforest is only a unusual cherry on Facebook’s shitty, multi-week sundae.