Facebook’s ad tools came under the spotlight in a series of articles by ProPublica which highlighted how the tools could be used to discriminate against certain sections of the society. The company was hit with legal action by the American Civil Liberties Union and it has now reached a settlement with a group. As part of this settlement, Facebook will end some targeting options for advertisements which could be potentially discriminatory.
Civil rights groups like the American Civil Liberties Union had argued that these advertising tools violated laws that ban discriminatory advertising. The company has decided to settle with the groups and make these changes.
Facebook confirms that going forward, anyone running an ad for jobs, credit or housing will no longer be able to target users by gender, age or zip code. Facebook has already dropped the “multicultural affinity” targeting option which allowed advertisers to exclude Facebook users by race.
The company also said that it will be building a tool which will allow users to see targeted housing ads. It’s similar to the database which Facebook built following the controversy over targeted political ads. The ACLU added in a statement that Facebook has also agreed to meet with plaintiffs regularly about progress on these reforms and that it will also require advertisers to certify that they comply with anti-discrimination laws.
Filed in . Read more about Facebook. Source: newsroom.fb