In Collaboration with Everytown, The Tech Transparency Project Releases Report Finding Hundreds of Gun Ads on Facebook, Instagram, Other Meta Platforms Despite Meta’s Purported Ban

In Apparent Violation of Meta Policies, Investigation Uncovers Over 230 Ads Selling Firearms, Gun Accessories, Ammunition Across Facebook, Instagram, Messenger 

Everytown Demands Change, Publishing Series of Recommendations for Meta to Take to Address Firearms Being Sold Across Platforms 

NEW YORK – In collaboration with Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund, the Tech Transparency Project today released a new investigative report which found that while Meta purports to prohibit ads that sell guns and gun accessories, the company is allowing scores of ads on Facebook and Instagram that offer those products.

The report, entitled “From Glocks to Ghost Guns: Meta Approves Hundreds of Ads Selling Firearms,” found that Meta approved more than 230 ads selling guns, gun accessories, or ammunition in direct violation of its policies. Investigators – who searched the Meta Ad Library between June 1 and August 20, 2024 – also found several ads which sold illegal “switches,” which are used to convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns; others sold Glocks or AR-15 style assault rifles, the weapons of choice for mass shooters. 

In response to the findings, Everytown for Gun Safety Support Fund released a series of recommendations for Meta to take in order to address the issue of firearms being sold across its platforms. They include 1) improved enforcement of existing guidelines pertaining to the sale of guns; 2) a significantly lowered threshold for banning users that violate the prohibition of private gun sales in Meta platforms; 3) prohibiting links to places where guns are sold; and 4) considering additional steps to ensure certain users are in compliance with the ATF’s new “Engaged in the Business” rule. Everytown’s full list of recommendations can be found here.

“TTP’s investigation shows that Meta is giving gun traffickers unparalleled reach, allowing them to run ads for assault rifles, ghost guns, and other deadly weapons on its giant social media platforms,” said Katie Paul, Director of Tech Transparency Project. “These ads not only violate Meta’s firearms policies, but they also, in some cases, sell illegal gun parts that are designed to make weapons more lethal, like switches that can convert a pistol into a machine gun. Until Meta enforces the rules it has on the books, its advertising engine will continue to be a vector for dangerous weapons that threaten the safety of Americans and others around the world.”

“Much like the gun industry itself, we cannot allow social media companies to evade accountability. Meta has made a clear promise to keep gun sales off their platforms and it is clear that Meta has failed to do so,” said Nick Suplina, senior vice president for law and policy of Everytown for Gun Safety. “Meta must better implement crucial public safety policies to protect  members of its online community. Luckily, this report and our recommendations provide a clear roadmap for keeping users safe.”

Key findings from the report, which can be found here, include:

• Meta approved more than 230 ads selling guns, gun accessories, or ammunition in violation of its policies. The ads appeared on Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and Meta’s Audience Network of mobile apps. 
• Some of the ads sold Glocks or AR-15 style assault rifles, which are the weapon of choice for mass shooters; others sold untraceable “ghost guns” or illegal “switches,” which are used to convert semiautomatic weapons into machine guns.
• Meta missed obvious signs of gun sales despite saying it reviews ads before they run to ensure they meet company standards, the report alleges.
• Some of the ads selling firearms ran for weeks or months before they were removed by Meta, if they were detected at all. 
• The ads often pointed prospective buyers to the messaging app Telegram or Meta’s own WhatsApp and Messenger to make gun purchases.

Of note, while today’s Tech Transparency Project report found deficiencies in Meta’s handling of gun advertising, the investigation also found that the company, by one measure, managed to keep gun content out of its algorithmic content recommendations: when researchers tested whether Instagram recommends gun content to test accounts for young video gamers — as a previous Tech Transparency Project study found that YouTube was doing — they found that Instagram did not suggest any gun-related accounts to follow.

Unlike YouTube, the report found the Instagram algorithm did not push gun-related content to the feed of the test youth user. This is a positive finding for the Instagram platform, but also serves as evidence that YouTube and other platforms could address the issue of its algorithm pushing gun content to minors if they put more attention and resources behind the issue.