T. Dung in Hanoi, a secondhand iPhone seller, said he can no longer post on Facebook to sell goods. In order to keep selling, he has to play tricks to ‘fool Facebook’s censor’ by posting on a comment column.

Quyen, who specializes in selling clothes and household appliances in Thai Binh, also complained that she could not post many articles on Facebook for many days. She is worried as she cannot boost sales to clear stocks.

Online sellers say that Facebook is tightening control over the sale of goods via Facebook.

In fact, according to ICTNews, the control began a long time ago, but it has been tightened recently by Facebook.

In order to keep online sales, users now have to use fanpages or run ads. However, even those who run ads on Facebook also complain they are meeting big difficulties.

The tightening coincides with Facebook’s campaign to purge ‘malicious’ groups and tighten control over ads running ahead of the upcoming presidential election in the US.

According to V. Van, a member of Facebook Ads, a community group, it is highly possible that Facebook is setting an advanced filtering regime by blocking all accounts.

However, Van said Facebook users with large budgets still can run ads via invoices. Users with small budgets find it difficult to lease or buy new accounts. Invoices mean running ads through prestigious agencies recognized by Facebook. This is reserved for advertisers with large budgets.

Some experts have advised those who do business on Facebook to temporarily stop all activities because they could lose money. They said the ‘difficult period’ will last at least two months.

While this ‘purging’ campaign by Facebook causes headaches to online sellers, it has been applauded by other Facebookers.

“I absolutely agree with Facebook’s purging campaign. This will reduce the number of people who run ads on Facebook and earn money without having to pay money,” Nguyen Long, a reader, told ICTNews.

“The campaign also helps eliminate the groups of vulgar, countercultural Facebookers. It is harmful to let them use Facebook as their propaganda tool," Long added.

Facebook should be a place for people to communicate, Long said. Those who use Facebook for the purpose of making money and talking nonsense must be eliminated. 

Phuong Nguyen

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