In a new and unprecedented move, social media giant, Facebook, has decided to ban any advertisement that promotes crypto-currency products and services. Under terms and agreements for the site’s use under Section 29: Prohibited Financial Products and Services, the below policy was added.

Crypto-currency, which seems to be the strongest craze in the technological world lately, has seen top competitors such as Bitcoin and Litecoin increase massively in value which has led to a widespread purchase of virtual cash.

Whilst Facebook has cracked down on the ads, the company also urges users to report any advertisements that fly under their radar.

Product Management Director for Facebook Business, Rob Leathern, wrote that Facebook “want people to continue to discover and learn about new products and services through Facebook ads without fear of scams or deception”.

The platform has seen a rise in ICO’s on the site that have ‘not been operating in good faith’.

ICO’s, or initial-coin-offerings, encourage people to purchase new crypto-currency options before their launch in the hopes of them one day being worth more than the opening purchase price.

However, after raising money from investors, some ICO’s have ceased to exist, leaving those who made a purchase with nothing to gain. This has led to a fear of deception, something that Facebook does not want to promote through the ad channels on their site, or across other platforms such as Instagram.

The Cause for Concern

As Facebook is a great way to generate buzz about a new product or service, ICO’s had been taking advantage of this opportunity, in conjunction with celebrity endorsement, to market towards potential investors for their crypto-currency. An example of this was when retired boxing legend, Floyd Mayweather, promoted crypto-currency, which later became the centre of a lawsuit alleging deception.

The New Policy

Since the inclusion of the policy, Facebook has also remarked that they will indeed add more under the site’s regulations to monitor the issue. They have also stated that the change is intentionally broad to allow for changes to be made in the future.

This news comes soon after the official announcement made by CEO Mark Zuckerberg in early January that they planned to downsize the platform in order to nurture more meaningful interactions for their users.

Zuckerberg stated that “recently we’ve gotten feedback from our community that public content — posts from businesses, brands and media — is crowding out the personal moments that lead us to connect more with each other.”

“Since there’s more public content than posts from your friends and family, the balance of what’s in News Feed has shifted away from the most important thing Facebook can do — help us connect with each other.”

As the year progresses, it will be interesting to see what other changes Facebook puts in place to rebuild the platform and re-ignite the trust of its users.