Skip to main content

Facebook’s ad policies revised to encourage inclusion and diversity Facebook's ad

Facebook's ad policies have been updated to increase opportunity and prohibit discrimination.

Tamar Weinberg

Late last year, Facebook committed to updating its ad targeting practices to prevent discrimination for housing, employment or credit-related ads. Today, the company is putting its ad discrimination policy into practice with policy updates, tools and further education.

Policy updates

Facebook is strengthening its stance with clearly defined prohibitions against ads with discrimination on the basis of race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability or medical/genetic condition.

Education

Facebook has also updated its policy with a section about discriminatory practices. Advertisers are prohibited from wrongfully targeting or excluding audiences in their ads. This section expands to groups of individuals who are connected to the ACLU, Department of Justice — Civil Rights Division, Leadership Conferences on Civil and Human Rights, the Civil Financial Protection Bureau, the US Department of Housing and Urban Development and the US Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

Rigid enforcement

Facebook is now using machine-learning-based technology that identifies problematic ads using multicultural affinity targeting under housing, credit or employment opportunities, and an advertiser may see a rejection message when making an attempt to isolate these groups.

Self-certification

When ads are created that may fall under employment, credit or housing, an advertiser must agree that they are in compliance with all policies.

In a statement from the ACLU, attorney Rachel Goodman welcomed the change. “We’re glad to see Facebook implementing strong policies so that advertisers of housing, credit and employment don’t use Facebook’s ad targeting to exclude certain users,” she said. “Civil rights laws prohibit that kind of discriminatory targeting. Facebook has done the right thing by building new systems to help make sure that people aren’t denied opportunities because of who they are. We urge the rest of the online advertising industry to follow suit.”

That sentiment was repeated by Aaron Rieke, Principal at Upturn, a law and policy firm, who said, “Facebook is combining thoughtful policies and smart technological enforcement. Together, these changes will help prevent discriminatory ad targeting. I hope other companies are paying attention.”

Facebook is continually working against discrimination by ensuring they are working with organizations and governmental entities to level the playing field to foster tolerance and inclusion, and they’ll be working with many more groups toward that objective.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Bitcoin Laundering” Study: Where Do Criminals Turn to Mask Illicit Cryptoassets?

A recent study ( PDF ) from the Foundation for Defense of Democracies’ Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance and blockchain analytics company Elliptic explored the “bitcoin laundering” ecosystem. In the study, Elliptic’s forensic analysis of the Bitcoin blockchain and other publicly available data were used to track the flows of illicit funds from 2013 to 2016. “This study aimed to identify where individuals turn in order to cash out or transmit bitcoins (BTC) acquired from illicit entities and to discover typologies for criminals ‘laundering’ bitcoins,” the report says. The study describes bitcoin laundering as a special type of money laundering that exists within the Bitcoin network where a user moves some bitcoins to a new address in a manner that obscures the original source of funds. The conversion of bitcoins into fiat currency on exchanges that lack adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) policies can also fall under the category ...

Soaring Bitcoin Price Leads $159 Billion Crypto Market Recovery

Bitcoin  Well, somebody bought the dip. Just as critics were rushing to proclaim that the bitcoin bubble had burst, the markets staged a $159 billion recovery. The rally was headlined by the bitcoin price, which rebounded from its sub-$10,000 fling and is currently flirting with $12,000. Several other top-tier coins, meanwhile, returned single day increases in excess of 40 percent. Source: CoinMarketCap Altogether, the  cryptocurrency market cap  clawed its way back to $574 billion, representing a 38 percent recovery from Wednesday’s intraday low of $415 billion. Bitcoin Price Eyes $12,000 Wednesday served as a trial-by-fire for recent bitcoin investors, some of whom had purchased the flagship cryptocurrency for $19,000 at the height of the rally in mid-December. Bitcoin Price Chart The correction forced the  bitcoin price  below $10,000 for the first time since early December, but Thursday’s rally enabled bitcoin to regain a bit...

How to Boost Your Credit—or Build it Up From Nothing

Now that you know  how credit works , you probably want to know how to make it work  better . While nothing is better for your credit than paying your bills in full and on time, there are ways to give it a boost. Like it or not,  credit matters . It’s also complicated. In our “Everything You Need to Know About Credit” series, we’re breaking down the basics. When a lender or landlord looks at your credit, they’re not just looking for a three digit number, they want to know how you actually handle credit. That’s why your credit report is more important than your score. That said, your score matters, too, and the good news is, there are shortcuts for boosting it in a relatively short amount of time. And if you don’t have credit at all — let’s say you’re a teenager about to start college — your biggest focus should be on building up a credit history. That way you can apply for student loans, apartments, and make sure you  aren’t gouged on bills . Here are some options...