Facebook accused of allowing 'ethnic affinity' ad targets
A report by ProPublica alleges that Facebook allows advertisers to exclude users by “ethnic affinity”. It suggests that companies buying targeted ads can exclude users that show an “affinity” for certain ethnic groups, or on the likelihood that users are of a certain ethnicity based on Facebook’s algorithms. Facebook is investigating the ad ProPublica purchased. Advertisements that exclude people based on race, gender and other factors are illegal under US federal law.

Facebook allows advertisers to exclude users by race, according to a new report.

Facebook allows advertisers to exclude users by race, according to a new report. Credit: Carl court/Getty Images

Facebook lets advertisers exclude users by "ethnic affinity," according to a new report(opens in a new tab) by ProPublica.

Companies buying targeted advertising through Facebook can exclude users who are determined to have an "affinity" for certain ethnic groups. A screenshot of an ad purchased by ProPublica and approved by Facebook shows users excluded by "ethnic affinity" for "African American (US)," "Asian American (US)," and "Hispanic (US - Spanish dominant.)"

Ads that exclude people based on race, gender and "other sensitive factors" are illegal under federal law in housing and employment, ProPublica noted. The news organization's approved ad was related to housing.

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A civil rights lawyer told ProPublica the exclusionary advertising was "massively illegal."

Facebook said that race is not the same as its "ethnic affinity" category. Facebook users do not explicitly self-identify with any ethnic groups.

Facebook puts users in this category instead through their interests: liking BET or Ebony, reading content in Spanish or liking an Asian-American Chamber of Commerce.

Facebook says that users don't have to be of a certain ethnic group to have interests that would place them in an ethnic affinity category.

Facebook said these ads have been used to target Hispanic-Americans during the 2014 World Cup, for companies that sell African-American hair products and for Spanish beer.

"We are committed to providing people with quality ad experiences, which includes helping people see messages that are both relevant to the cultural communities they are interested in and have content that reflects or represents their communities -- not just generic content that's targeted to mass audiences," Facebook said in a statement. "We believe that multicultural advertising should be a tool for empowerment. We take a strong stand against advertisers misusing our platform: our policies prohibit using our targeting options to discriminate, and they require compliance with the law. We take prompt enforcement action when we determine that ads violate our policies."

Despite the distinction between targeting or excluding specific members of a race or ethnic group versus people who have expressed an "affinity" for that race or ethnic group, ProPublica's reporting found that ads using these tools could still be illegal.

Facebook said it is looking into the ad ProPublica purchased and how it was approved. The social networking company said the ad was not for housing exactly, but was instead for a renters' forum related to housing, pointing to the ad as evidence.

ProPublica's ad, according to Facebook. Credit: facebook

Other companies have come under criticism for similar targeted advertising before. A Harvard professor in 2013 found that Google ads(opens in a new tab) related to background checks and arrest records appeared during searches for more "black-sounding names." Google's ad algorithm also showed ads(opens in a new tab) for higher-paying jobs to more men than women.

Facebook released a blog post(opens in a new tab) about the issue.