Facebook allows advertisers in the US to exclude black, Hispanic and other 'ethnic affinities' from seeing ads on its platform, according to an investigation.

Per non-profit news organisation ProPublica, Facebook devised a category called 'Ethnic Affinities' that enabled advertisers to target and exclude certain groups of users when placing ads for a new apartment or a house for sale. 

Affinity targeting is based on interests users have declared or Facebook pages they have liked. 

Ads that exclude people based on race, gender and other sensitive factors are prohibited by US federal laws governing housing, employment and financial services.

The discovery resulted in multiple parties suing Facebook - including the US Department of Housing (HUD) - a suit Facebook lost. 

Timeline ⏰

• October 2016. ProPublica reports that Facebook allows housing advertisers to exclude users by "ethnic affinity."

• August 2018. HUD files an initial complaint against Facebook for Fair Housing Act violations.

• March 2019. Facebook settles with the ACLU and other civil rights groups, agreeing to create a separate portal for housing, employment, and credit ads.

• August 2020. The Markup reports that Facebook continued to publish ads discriminating against users on the basis of age and race, including in advertising open jobs. Days before The Markup's article was published, Facebook announced it would eliminate multicultural affinity categories.

• July 2021. The Markup discovers a wide range of proxies for racial categories being used by advertisers on the platform, including the phrases 'African-American culture,' 'Asian Culture,' and 'Latino culture.'

• June 21, 2022. The DOJ files its lawsuit and settlement agreement, marking the first federal algorithmic bias case under the Fair Housing Act.

• December 31, 2022. Meta officially retires the "Special Ad Audience" tool for housing.

• January 9, 2023. The DOJ and Meta reach an agreement on specific compliance metrics for the new Variance Reduction System (VRS).

Legal, regulatory 👩🏼‍⚖️

• HUD v Facebook

• National Fair Housing Alliance v. Facebook, Inc. (1:18-cv-02689)

Research, advocacy 🧮

• Brookings (2021). Solving the Problem of Racially Discriminatory Advertising on Facebook

• Spinks C. N. (2020). Contemporary Housing Discrimination: Facebook, Targeted Advertising, and the Fair Housing Act

• National Fair Housing Alliance (2019). Civil Rights Advocates Settle Lawsuit with Facebook: Transforms Facebook’s Platform Impacting Millions of Users

• ACLU (2019). Facebook Agrees to Sweeping Reforms to Curb Discriminatory Ad Targeting Practices

• Ali M., et al (2019). Discrimination through Optimization: How Facebook’s Ad Delivery Can Lead to Biased Outcomes (pdf)

• Speicher T. et al (2018). Potential for Discrimination in Online Targeted Advertising (pdf)

Investigations, assessments, audits 👁️

• The Markup (2021). Facebook Got Rid of Racial Ad Categories. Or Did It?

• The Markup (2020). Does Facebook Still Sell Discriminatory Ads?

• ProPublica (2019). Facebook Won’t Let Employers, Landlords or Lenders Discriminate in Ads Anymore

• ProPublica (2017). Facebook (Still) Letting Housing Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

• ProPublica (2016). HUD Has ‘Serious Concerns’ About Facebook’s Ethnic Targeting

• ProPublica (2016). Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

• ProPublica (2016). Facebook ad

News, commentary, analysis 🗞️

• https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/news/2016/10/28/facebook-advertisers-exclude-racial-ethnic-groups/92888160/

• https://nationalvanguard.org/2016/10/facebook-advertisers-can-exclude-racial-groups-in-housing-ads/

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/the-switch/wp/2017/02/08/facebook-cracks-down-on-ads-that-discriminate/

• https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2022/06/21/facebook-doj-discriminatory-housing-ads/

• https://www.wired.com/story/facebook-advertising-discrimination-settlement/

• https://www.reuters.com/article/us-facebook-advertisers/u-s-charges-facebook-with-racial-discrimination-in-targeted-housing-ads-idUSKCN1R91E8

• https://www.fastcompany.com/90329906/study-facebook-ad-targeting-may-discriminate-even-when-advertisers-dont-want-it-to