The following
may, again
may, be of import for gamers using Social Media to talk about the games they play, specifically where such conversation may revolve around guns and their use.
Via the work of an anti-gun pressure-group,
Facebook has apparently agreed to change its policies with respect to how their site and services are used with respect to guns and firearms in general. The policy change Facebook has agreed to
technically deals with the use of their services to facilitate the discussion, sale or transfer between persons or across State lines of *real* firearms unless a number of conditions are met.
But... (you knew there was one coming), a number of conditions (see notes below) relevant to the
control of discussion seem to have rather more far reaching consequences than perhaps was (originally) intended.
For example,
Call of Duty and other
Modern Warfare game players might suddenly find their groups closed, suspended or requiring copious verification hoop-jumping simply because... they discuss the sale, modification, improvement, upgrade and/or feature requests for the
VIRTUAL guns, firearms, and other weapons of mass-destruction etc. used
in-game.
So,
discussion of any kind, virtual or real, might fall under the umbrella of this new Facebook policy change on 'guns'. So be warned. Whilst it might not mean anything right now, it could in the coming months.
Someone didn't think this through properly... or perhaps they did.
Notes:
From MDAfGSiA press-release.
- 5. Facebook will continue to report threatening gun-related posts to law enforcement.
- 7. All gun-related Facebook pages and groups have to acknowledge the laws that apply to them, and must display this information prominently. Once reported, they’ll be taken down temporarily until they do so.
- 8. Searching Instagram for gun-related hashtags will prompt a warning and require users to acknowledge gun sale laws before viewing search results.
Facebook, Instagram Announce New Educational and Enforcement Measures for Commercial Activity
