Last month a report from Propublica revealed that Facebook had a controversial filter for advertisers called “Ethnic affinity”, which basically allowed advertisers to exclude races from ads related to housing and jobs. Facebook at that time defended the filter, claiming that it was common practice in the industry.Their defense was that this allowed advertisers to create ads that targeted different groups more efficiently. However it seems that ultimately the company decided that maybe it wasn’t the best idea because in an update on its website, Facebook has since announced that they will be disabling the feature moving forward.
According to Facebook’s VP of US Public Policy and Chief Privacy Officer, Erin Egan, “We will disable the use of ethnic affinity marketing for ads that we identify as offering housing, employment, or credit. There are many non-discriminatory uses of our ethnic affinity solution in these areas, but we have decided that we can best guard against discrimination by suspending these types of ads.”
In response to these changes, Rep. Yvette Clarke, D-NY and a member of the Congressional Black Caucus commended Facebook and said, “I urge Facebook and other technology companies to address the lack of diversity in the ranks of their leadership and staff by recruiting and retaining people of color and women.”
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