By WSJ City

The Department of Housing and Urban Development said it was charging Facebook with violating fair housing laws by enabling real-estate companies to improperly limit who can view advertisements on its platform.

KEY FACTS

--- The charges accuse the social-media giant of unlawfully discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, and more.

--- According to the charges, the company does so "by restricting who can view housing-related ads.

--- "The department said Facebook let advertisers exclude people from viewing housing and housing-related ads based on demographics.

--- Those include status as parents, citizenship status, interest in Hispanic culture, gender, and more categories.

--- The charges are civil in nature, not criminal.

--- HUD said the charges would be heard either by a federal administrative law judge or a federal district judge.

"Facebook is discriminating against people based upon who they are and where they live... Using a computer to limit a person's housing choices can be just as discriminatory as slamming a door in someone's face."

HUD Secretary Ben Carson, In a statement announcing the charges of violating the Fair Housing Act.

Why This Matters

The HUD charges come more than a week after Facebook said it was removing age, gender and ZIP Code targeting for housing, employment and credit-related advertisements, part of a settlement with advocacy groups and other plaintiffs that included payments of just under $5m. Those changes were the latest step by the social network to curtail fallout around its ad targeting.

What They Said

A spokesman for Facebook said the company was surprised by HUD's action because the company had been working with the department to address their concerns, and said it had taken steps to prevent advertising discrimination. The spokesman said the company last year eliminated thousands of targeting options subject to misuse, among other measures.

A fuller story is available on WSJ.com

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 28, 2019 10:38 ET (14:38 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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