Newsdeck: Facebook, Google, Twitter Targeted by U.S. for Housing Bias By Bloomberg
The Department of Housing and Urban Development on Thursday accused Facebook of enabling and encouraging bias based on race and religion, as well as sex, by restricting who can see housing-related ads on its platforms and across the internet. HUD also has sent letters to Twitter and Google inquiring about the advertising systems for their sites and products as well, said Brian Sullivan, a department spokesman.
The social network allowed those advertising housing to exclude people it classified as parents; non-American-born; non-Christian; interested in accessibility and Hispanic culture; as well as other group’s deemed protected classes, HUD said in a statement. “We’ve had policies in place for many years that prohibit targeting ads on the basis of sensitive categories like race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability status, negative financial standing, etc,” a Google spokesman said in an email. “Our policies are designed to protect users and ensure that advertisers are using our platforms in a responsible manner. ”
The government’s civil lawsuit against Facebook came after the social network has been working to address many of the issues raised and last year eliminated advertising targeting options that could be misused.
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