dailydot : Facebook Lets Advertisers Discriminate By Race

Facebook Lets Advertisers Discriminate By Race

BTWFacebook is letting advertisers target or, more precisely, exclude demographics by race, according to ProPublica.The news site purchased a housing ad and found that under the "Narrow Audience" heading in the "Ethnic Affinity" category, it could exclude groups like African-Americans and Hispanics from ever seeing it.Since this is entirely illegal under the federal Fair Housing Act, ProPublica reached out to Facebook, which maintained the company has no tolerance for discrimination.

Facebook Advertising Filters Lets Advertisers Be Hugely Racist

There are times when Facebook seems like it's really trying to be better (unconscious bias training!paying women equal pay!), and then there are times when it's just like what are you even doing, Facebook?

Facebook Lets Advertisers Control Which Ethnicities See Their Ads

Photo via Flickr user Eduardo WooAccording to a new report from Propublica, advertisers that purchase ads on Facebook are able to target them toward certain users based on what the site calls "ethnic affinities."Using the social media platform's self-service advertising portal, advertisers can stop Facebook users from seeing the ad based on characteristics like being African-American, Asian-American, and Hispanic.Because Facebook doesn't require users to identify with a race when creating a profile, the site says users are placed in a category based on the pages and posts that they like and engage with.

Facebook Lets Advertisers Hide Ads From People Based On "Ethnic Affinities"

Facebook ID: 9881290One of Facebook's most appealing traits to advertisers is its ability to target users based on their interests and demographics.On the flipside, the site also gives advertisers the choice to hide ads from specific groups of users, a tactic called exclusion marketing.And this option can lead to unexpected and even unwanted results.