Facebook faces backlash over discriminatory ad tools it promised to fix
https://thenextweb.com/facebook/2018/08/20/facebook-faces-backlash-over-discriminatory-ad-tools-it-promised-to-fix/
Facebook was hit, over the weekend, with a complaint by the US Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). The HUD claims Facebook’s allowing advertisers to discriminate against users searching for property with tools the company said it’d eliminated back in 2016.
The HUD alleges that Facebook’s ad targeting tools may be used to keep people of certain genders, races, religions, and familial status from being able to see ads for certain properties. It goes on to say: “Facebook then invites advertisers to express unlawful preferences by offering discriminatory options, allowing them to effectively limit housing options for these protected classes under the guise of ‘targeted advertising.'” This, as the HUD pointed out in their statement, would be a massive violation of the Fair Housing Act.