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Facebook hit with federal complaint over discriminatory housing ads
Despite past efforts, Facebook hasn't avoided federal-level trouble over allegations it enabled discriminatory housing ads. The Department of Housing and Urban Development has officially filed a complaint against Facebook, accusing the social network of violating the Fair Housing Act. HUD claimed that Facebook's ad personalization let advertisers redline ZIP codes and exclude people based on gender, race, religion, accessibility, national origins and even parental status. The company was limiting home choices for protected classes "under the guise" of targeted ads, HUD said.
Facebook faces lawsuit over discriminatory housing ads
In 2016, the Congressional Black Caucus said that Facebook had violated the Fair Housing Act (FHA) by allowing advertisers to exclude racial and ethnic groups when buying ads for housing, employment or even credit. Last year, ProPublica said that the social media company was still approving discriminatory ads that exclude ethnic groups. Now, the National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA) has filed a lawsuit against Facebook that alleges the advertising platform allows landlords and real estate brokers to exclude families with women and children from even seeing housing ads.
Facebook disables 'ethnic affinity' ads for housing, jobs
Facebook will disable settings that let advertisers exclude racial and ethnic groups when buying ads for housing, employment or credit, the company wrote in a blog post. It first started allowing "ethnic affinity" marketing several years ago, letting advertisers target specific multicultural groups. However, Propublica noticed that it was able to place housing ads that excluded African Americans, Hispanics, and other groups. That caught the eye of the Congressional Black Caucus, which called it a violation of the Fair Housing Act.
Black Caucus: Facebook ads violate discrimination laws
Facebook's practice of letting advertisers exclude racial groups from targeted ads has caught the eye of US lawmakers. "We are writing to express our deep concerns with reports that Facebook's 'Ethnic Affinities' advertising customization feature allows for advertisers to exclude specific racial and ethnic groups when placing housing advertisements," the Congressional Black Caucus said in a letter to Facebook. "This is in direct violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968."
