Facebook to Ban Sites That Host Gun Blueprints for 3D Printing

Facebook announced Thursday that it would ban sites that host gun blueprints for use with 3D printers, Buzzfeed News reported.

A settlement between the State Department and Defense Distributed, an organization that created the first 3D-printed gun, allowed such blueprints to be shared, but a federal judge granted a temporary injunction that prevented the uploads.

However, despite the injunction, instructions are available online on sites such as Codeisfreespeech.com, which hosts blueprints for parts of an AR-15, a Beretta, and the Liberator, the 3D-printed gun that Defense Distributed created, Buzzfeed reported.

Attempts at posting that site on a Facebook user’s feed, in the Facebook Messenger app, and on Instagram (which Facebook owns) produce error messages, the report noted.

A Facebook spokesperson said that the social network is working on ramping up its anti-3D gun policies. 3D printed guns violate the regulated goods section of Facebook’s community standards, the spokesperson noted.

Enthusiasts of 3D-printed guns slammed Facebook’s ban. "Facebook’s complete and total takedown and block of Codeisfreespeech.com is without question a human policy decision by Facebook executives to single us and our speech out for especially disfavorable treatment," the Firearms Policy Coalition, which is behind the Codeisfreespeech site, wrote in a post.

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