Facebook is still being used to buy and sell guns in Brazil, says Núcleo newspaper

RIO DE JANEIRO, BRAZIL – Facebook is still used for direct trade ads for firearms between users of the network, which violates community guidelines implemented in 2016 and the platform’s efforts to curb the practice. A ‘Núcleo’ investigation found more than 20 recent posts of arms buying and selling on the platform and dozens of other suspicious ones (in which the offer is not explicit).

This trade’s persistence shows the difficulty in moderating content even within one of the world’s largest companies, and it can also have serious repercussions outside the virtual environment.

In March 2019, two teenagers stormed a school at gunpoint in Suzano (São Paulo) and left eight dead, including students and teachers, and then killed themselves. A police investigation determined that the shooters, one of whom was a minor, negotiated the purchase of part of the ammunition used in the massacre through Facebook.

Moreover, the continuation of this irregular trade comes when President Jair Bolsonaro is trying to make it easier for individuals to acquire weapons in Brazil. In February this year, Bolsonaro issued four decrees that expand the possibility of carrying weapons to ordinary citizens.

Facebook’s community guidelines state that the buying, selling or exchanging firearms, ammunition, and explosives between individuals are not allowed on the platform. Stores and websites that sell firearms are allowed to engage in commercial activities involving guns and ammunition as long as they follow the social network’s rules. The platform also allows discussions about sales in physical or online stores.

The sale of firearms in Brazil between individuals is not prohibited, as long as both parties have an valid arms registration and the transaction is reported to the Federal Police or the Army.

The ads found by the Nucleus are in both open and closed groups. While some offers are explicit advertisements, with prices, model details, and contact forms, other posts bring only the product’s image and a phone number or link to WhatsApp.

Administrators often warn in posts pinned at the top and in the groups’ rules that gun trading is not allowed there. But moderation is rather lenient.

In the comments of one of these posts, the author of the post writes: “tô fazendo uma promoção de 3600 com duas cartelas de ammo com 10.” (I’m doing a promotion for 3600 with two cartridges of ammo with 10)

Others take advantage of the post to offer different products in the comments. One user asks the price of the G2C 9MM (a pistol model from manufacturer Taurus), to which another person replies: “I have it for immediate delivery in Palmas for R$ 3.600.00 in cash.”

Another publication links to a private WhatsApp conversation and openly announces a Rossi 38 revolver as a Black Friday promotion, and right below, a person gives his phone number.

Legality

In addition to Facebook’s rules, the 2003 Disarmament Statute prohibits advertising for sale by companies that produce or sell weapons, except in specialized publications, such as shooting sports magazines, for example. Non-compliance can incur a fine of up to R$300,000 (US$52,600). Facebook’s own rules, therefore, which allow legal entities to offer their products, conflict with the Brazilian legislation.

Although it is not illegal (under Brazilian law) to trade weapons between civilians on Facebook, it is impossible to guarantee that the parties will respect and act within what the law establishes.

“Any transfer between civilians needs to be between people with current registration, and the transfer has to be registered either with the Federal Police or the Army. If the sale involves someone without an active registration or if the transfer is not registered with the Federal Police/Army, it means arms trafficking,” says Natália Pollachi, project manager at Instituto Sou da Paz.

For Pollachi, due to its repercussion, the case of Suzano led to an atypical action by the police in going after the suppliers of the weapons and ammunition. “There are many homicides that involved weapons bought in the illegal market and that the police never go after those who sold them,” explained Pollachi.

She defends more incisive action by the platforms to curb the commercialization of weapons and ammunition. “We know that there is an institutional discourse of platforms, of social networks, saying that the community is huge, that there is no way to inspect absolutely everything, but we understand that the trade of weapons and ammunition is a severe issue that should be a priority,” she says.

Source: Núcleo