Facebook has had enough of hate speech... well, in ads, at least. The company's founder and CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, announced a slew of new policies last week, meant to combat incendiary rhetoric and misinformation. Going forward, Facebook will now ban hate speech from its advertising platform. The company says the goal is to create a “higher standard” of content for its ads and prohibit divisive rhetoric. “Today we're prohibiting a wider category of hateful content in ads,” said Zuckerberg. “Specifically, we're expanding our ads policy to prohibit claims that people from a specific race, ethnicity, national origin, religious affiliation, caste, sexual orientation, gender identity or immigration status are a threat to the physical safety, health or survival of others.” Zuckerberg pointed out that Facebook has typically banned certain types of content from its ad platform that are normally allowed in regular posts. And that’s the same case here. If Facebook effectively enforces its own rules, you won't see ads with hate speech on the platform, but may still see hateful posts in your News Feed. (For regular posts, Facebook only bans "direct" attacks – defined as "violent or dehumanising speech, statements of inferiority, or calls for exclusion or segregation" – on protected groups.)

Soon nearly any influencer will be able to sell stuff on Instagram

Prepare to be inundated with overpriced T-shirts, CBD oil, and private label makeup for sale, Instagram users. Last week, Instagram announced that starting in July, the floodgates will open for businesses, including influencers and creators, who want to sell their merchandise on Instagram. Basically, the change allows many more users to sign up for Instagram Shopping. “Any eligible business or creator account with at least one eligible product can use shopping tags to drive people to their website to make a purchase,” reads Instagram’s statement. Are you an influencer who wants to sell your wares on Instagram? Just sign up for Instagram Shopping and await approval. As long as you follow a few simple rules, you should be approved. The new policy requires Instagram Shopping users to link to a web store under their own domain name. This means users that sell strictly on a third-party ecommerce site like Amazon will not be able to use Instagram Shopping. However, linking to your own website that uses an ecommerce platform like Shopify would qualify. Upon approval, users can start using shopping tags in their posts, which allow them to sell items within the Instagram app. "If a business is not approved, we offer a clear reason so they can take the necessary action or appeal," says Instagram. Previously, this feature was only open to major brands. Later on, Instagram also rolled some shopping features out to big influencers and publishers like Kylie Jenner and Elle.