Policies at Facebook and Google meant to block online ads for guns are also blocking new safety devices.
Omer Kiyani is founder of Sentinl Inc., which developed Identilock, a fingerprint-activated trigger lock. But he's having a hard time gaining any market share because the online giants are constantly flagging his ads.
“Here we get just a few sales then it gets blocked, and it gets a few sales and gets blocked again for a long period of time, and it's just a lot of automated algorithms,” he says.
Kiyani has been told he's more than welcome to advertise Identilock, but his ad cannot feature a firearm.
“It's the fastest trigger lock on the planet, but it's a struggle to show a product that is supposed to secure a gun without a gun,” he says. “And any visual of a gun is automatically blocked.”
A spokesperson for Facebook has said the company is in “constant contact with companies to help them have a smoother experience.”