Facebook said Wednesday that it's making three changes to stop housing, employment and credit-related ads on its network that discriminate based on personal attributes.
Second, it's placing limits on ad creation. Advertisers will no longer be able to use Facebook's culturally based audience selection tools to exclude or target ads for housing, employment or credit products. If someone tries, he or she will receive a notice telling them that that type of targeting isn't allowed. Advertisers must also affirm they understand Facebook's anti-discrimination policies.
Finally, Facebook is going to begin disapproving ads that violate these policies. It hopes to detect them automatically using machine learning, which Satterfield said will get better at judging content over time. Advertisers who think their ads are being flagged unfairly can appeal and ask for a manual review.
Facebook said it consulted many of its initial critics while crafting the new requirements. Many support the company's new policies. “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,” said Rachel Goodman, attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union’s Racial Justice Program, in a statement. “We urge the rest of the online advertising industry to follow suit.”
The changes will begin rolling out globally Wednesday, starting in the United States.