Regulator Says Facebook's Ad Targeting System Allows Discrimination
August 17 2018 - 6:13PM
Dow Jones News
By Micah Maidenberg
A federal regulator says that Facebook Inc.'s ad targeting
system violates the Fair Housing Act by permitting discrimination
on the basis of race, color, religion and other legally protected
statuses.
Facebook's ad tools "invite advertisers to express unlawful
preferences by suggesting discriminatory options, and Facebook
effectuates the delivery of housing-related ads to certain users
and not others based on those users' actual or imputed protected
traits," according to a complaint from the Assistant Secretary for
Fair Housing & Equal Opportunity, part of the U.S. Department
of Housing and Urban Development.
To support its claim, the complaint gave a range of examples,
saying Facebook enables advertisers to discriminate by showing ads
to only men or women and by permitting advertisers to not show ads
to people who live in majority-minority zip codes.
A spokeswoman for the housing and urban development department
didn't immediately return a call.
In a statement, a spokesman for Menlo Park, California-based
Facebook said discrimination is "strictly prohibited" in the
company's policies.
"Over the past year we've strengthened our systems to further
protect against misuse," he said. "We're aware of the statement of
interest filed and will respond in court; and we'll continue
working directly with HUD to address their concerns."
Shares in Facebook fell 0.5% to $173.80 on Friday.
Write to Micah Maidenberg at micah.maidenberg@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
August 17, 2018 17:58 ET (21:58 GMT)
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