Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The owner of Facebook Meta has agreed to change ad-targeting technology and pay $ 115,000 to resolve a US government allegation that the social media giant allowed discrimination against homeowners, officials said on Tuesday.
Under the terms of the agreement that is yet to be approved by the court, Meta will use artificial intelligence to ensure that advertisements exceed the population to reach people regardless of age, gender or race.
“We will be launching a new approach designed to ensure that audiences who end up seeing a home ad closely reflect the target audience of that ad,” Meta assistant general adviser Roy Austin said in a post.
The Department of Housing and Urban Development had filed a lawsuit in 2019 alleging that Facebook “unfairly discriminates against them on the basis of race, color, ethnic origin, religion, family status, gender and disability” by restricting access to housing-related advertisements.
Facebook has become a multi-billion dollar advertising juggernaut with a huge amount of user data that allows companies to accurately target demographics, but that has also led to allegations of breach of privacy and discrimination.
While HUD claims are focused on real estate ads, Meta will also introduce a new system that will be used to ensure that job or credit ads are not selective, adds Austin.
Meta has been working with HUD on a “diversification reduction” program to prevent discrimination in ad targeting on its site.
Meta has already made changes to address housing problems, and those will continue to work, according to the proposed agreement.
Facebook announced in early 2019 that it was redesigning its use of targeted advertising in groups with activist groups claiming to discriminate against messages of jobs, housing, debt and other resources.
At the end of this year, Meta will stop allowing ads to be targeted using the “special viewer” tools it offers that can record specific groups of people, the organization said.
Meta will also pay a $ 115,000 public fine and allow a private third party check to ensure compliance with the terms of the agreement, court documents said.
