Facebook credit card age ad targeting bias

Four US credit card and financial loan companies have been excluding certain age groups from their advertising campaigns on Facebook, according to The Markup.

The exclusions by Aspiration, Chime, Hometap, and Varo, violate Facebook's anti-discrimination policies and in some cases potentially transgress US federal or state civil rights laws. 

The findings appear to contradict a claim by Facebook vice president Monica Bickert in an appearance before a Senate Judiciary hearing on social media in April 2021 that Facebook does not allow the use of sensitive targeting criteria when placing financial services and housing ads.

US senator Mazie Hirono used The Markup's article to accuse Bickert of making a claim that 'appears to be false'.