Bitcoin and other similar cryptocurrencies have proven to be the shortcut to small time investment thereby cutting large profits. But yes, you would not be able to reap that benefit anymore on Facebook because it has taken a severe step to ban all the advertisements concerning the cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin in Particular.
Move to ban Bitcoin
The Social Network on Tuesday announced that it will be banning all the Advertisements for Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies in order to stop the promotions which the company views as ‘Frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices’. Under the new policy framework released by Facebook for ad posting, no ads from well-known digital currency exchanges or for Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs) will be allowed to be displayed on the site’s timeline thereby cropping out their advertisements. Among those who will be affected is James Altucher, a self-described “crypto genius” whose viral ads have become a talking point in how the cryptocurrency boom has led to scams and wild price fluctuations. Apart from him, the businesses which see huge growth potential due to the enormous traffic of Facebook will surely take a hit, but Facebook ought to do something like this in order to prevent itself from portraying an image marred with controversies regarding its ad-stuffing.
Why was the move to ban Cryptocurrencies important for Facebook?
Critics and analysts rushed to find the core of the reason for such elusive decision making by Facebook amidst a time which is suitable for such business growths. Its move also followed questions whether it has done enough to protect itself and its members from bad advertisers who constantly try to reap benefits out of everywhere without concerning the audience they cater. Facebook has been trying hard to clamp down on misinformation and false news after admitting last year that Russian agents had used it to spread divisive and polarizing messages during the American General Elections leading to the Presidential elections as well.
The world of cryptocurrencies is often marred with controversies surrounding its involvement in scams as its prices have soared in the recent months but often people fear from venturing into this world due to the fear of getting scammed or cheated into. The Securities and Exchange Commission on Tuesday said that it had halted what may have been a fraudulent initial coin offering which asked people to fund what was supposed to be the World’s first ‘decentralized bank’.
Rob Leathern, a Facebook product management director, while announcing the ban on cryptocurrency ads in a blog post said that the ban was intentionally broad as the Social Media site seeks to ‘better detect deceptive and misleading advertisement practices’. He meant by the statement that the Company is readily looking forward to saving its members from getting impacts by some of the cryptocurrencies intentional behavior of harming the citizens through Facebook.
What goes overhead with such announcement is that Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook’s Chief Executive had recently shown interest in the digital currency and that any step towards banning them all out seemed uncertain. In a Facebook Post this month, he had written that he was studying how to introduce cryptocurrency to his company, adding that he thought it would ‘take power from centralized banking systems and put it back into people’s hands where it belonged’.