Facebook admits blocking coronavirus news from users

Social media platform Facebook says a bug in its anti-spam system is blocking the publication of links to news stories about the coronavirus.

Facebook's vice president of integrity, Guy Rosen confirmed on Twitter that the company is working on fixing the problem.

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Users are complaining that links to news stories about school closings and other information related to the virus outbreak is being blocked by the company's automated system.

Mr Rosen said the problems are unrelated to any changes to its content moderator workforce. The company reportedly sent its human moderators home this week.

Facebook said the glitch was not due related to the moderators working from home.

Users were reportedly seeing a warning from Facebook which read: "Your post goes against our Community Standards on spam", advising the person that no one else could see the post and those standards are in place to prevent things like false advertising, fraud and security breaches.

Last week, Facebook banned advertising on hygiene masks in an apparent bid to fight coronavirus price gouging Tech Crunch reported.

"We're monitoring COVID19 closely and will make necessary updates to our policies if we see people trying to exploit this public health emergency," Facebook Director of Product Management Rob Leathern said in an update on Twitter.

"We are temporarily banning advertisements and commerce listings that sell medical face masks," a Facebook spokesperson told TechCrunch.