Facebook eases ban on cryptocurrency ads
San Francisco, June 27 : Facebook said on Tuesday that it is taking steps to ease a January policy banning financial products and services associated with cryptocurrency.
Rob Leathern, Product Management Director at Facebook, said in an official blog post that the world's largest social media network has "looked at the best way to refine this policy -- to allow some ads while also working to ensure that they're safe."
Facebook announced a broad policy in January this year which prohibited "ads that promote financial products and services that are frequently associated with misleading or deceptive promotional practices, such as binary options, initial coin offerings and cryptocurrency".
The policy, which even stopped legitimate businesses from buying advertisements, aimed to better detect what Facebook called deceptive promotional practices by many companies advertised binary options and cryptocurrencies without good faith, Xinhua reported.
Leathern announced that starting June 26, Facebook will be updating its "policy to allow ads that promote cryptocurrency and related content from pre-approved advertisers".
But the company will continue to block any ads that promote binary options and initial coin offerings, he said.
Advertisers are required to submit an application to Facebook before hand if they want to run ads for cryptocurrency products and services, so that Facebook can assess their eligibility, including any licenses they have obtained, whether they are traded on a public stock exchange, and other relevant public background on their business.
Under these restrictions, not everyone who wants to advertise will be able to do so, Facebook said.
"But we'll listen to feedback, look at how well this policy works and continue to study this technology so that, if necessary, we can revise it over time," Leathern wrote.
Last month, Facebook established a new experimental blockchain group dedicated to the technology that powers cryptocurrencies like bitcoin.
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Porsche car crash case exposed systemic corruption: Pune police commissioner
Pune (PTI): The Porsche car crash case exposed "systemic corruption," but the Pune Police have successfully uncovered the nexus behind the replacement of the accused juvenile's blood samples with those of his mother, Police Commissioner Amitesh Kumar said on Wednesday.
The case made national headlines after the high-end car allegedly driven by the 17-year-old boy in an inebriated state mowed down motorcycle-borne IT professionals Anish Awadhiya and Ashwini Costa in the Kalyani Nagar area on May 19 last year.
"Last year’s Porsche car crash case sparked widespread discussions about Pune’s deteriorating social culture, alleged police corruption, and several other issues. Amid all the criticism, one positive aspect stood out: the case exposed systemic corruption.
"It also demonstrated how the police, working within the same system, managed to uncover the entire nexus behind the replacement of the juvenile’s blood samples with those of his mother," Kumar said while addressing Nasha Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, an initiative aimed at raising awareness against drug addiction, organised at Modern College.
He added that the juvenile has been released since he was a minor.
"However, his mother has remained in jail for over a year, and his father continues to be behind bars. Doctors from Sassoon Hospital and others involved are also still in jail," Kumar said, adding that one mistake by a child, and an attempt by his parents to cover it up, destroyed an entire family.
He said the police will follow up on this case until every guilty person is punished.
Kumar also appealed to students to stay away from intoxicating substances and drugs.
"You are not only endangering your own life but also putting your entire family at risk," he said, urging the youth not to fall prey to harmful addictions.
"Instead, stand strong and act as a force to ensure that drug abuse is curbed in your surroundings. We assure you of full police support," he added.
He further stated that if youth from all colleges unite and decide to end this menace, "the day is not far when not even one gram of drug will be sold in the city".
The investigation into the car crash had revealed that the juvenile's blood samples were replaced with those of his mother.
The roles of Dr Ajay Taware, head of the forensic department, Medical Officer Shreehari Halnor, and a hospital staffer came under scrutiny.
While the mother is currently out on bail, the juvenile’s father, Sassoon Hospital doctors Taware and Halnor, staffer Atul Ghatkamble, two middlemen, Ashpak Makandar and Amar Gaikwad, and others remain in jail for the alleged blood sample swap.
