3 ms·

The difference is that the law shouldn't even be on the books imo. The person discriminating is the private property owner/manager they engaged in the advertisi

The difference is that the law shouldn't even be on the books imo. The person discriminating is the private property owner/manager they engaged in the advertising. Facebook did not.

mikec3010 8y ago
We live in the Ninny Age where our government protectors have to protect the Sacred Minority. Right dang? It's illegal to think otherwise.
MBCook 8y ago
Knives have legal uses. In the context of housing ads (or employment) these tools DO NOT have legal uses. Thus they are illegal.
- mynegation 8y ago
  I don’t argue that ads in the context of housing is illegal. Targeting specific demographic using protected categories in other areas can be legal too. As a pharmaceutical company you can target women, men, seniors for targeted medications. As a LGBTQ dating site you can target based on sexual orientation and cis/trans. It is not illegal. Housing and jobs (maybe something else) are covered by specific legislation.
  - MBCook 8y ago
    Agreed. These restrictions only apply in a few legally defined areas. The fact an LGBT dating site can choose ‘don’t show to heterosexual people (a waste of my ad spend)’ is one of the reasons their platform is so effective, especially compared to mass media like TV/magazines.
- gpm 8y ago
  That seems like a poor argument for why it should be illegal, since facebook ads are not limited to housing and employment. The analogous argument for knives would be "In the context of torture knives don't have any legal uses. (So knife sellers need to put safe guards in preventing their knives from torturing people)".
sizzle 8y ago
How would a common person know they were discriminated against digitally on Facebook? Why should such a tool geared towards discrimination of protected classes not be held liable when there is no alternative legal use case for allowing filtering of protected classes for displaying of housing ads. As a user of Facebook, this method of discrimination is markedly different than physically showing up to a house for rent and the home owner taking one look at you, scrunching up their face, and saying it's no longer available, tipping you off that what they are doing is illegal.
- AdamM12 8y ago
  If Facebook isn't displaying the ad to you but you walk into the apartment management office and are denied the ability to rent (despite having the means) because you are a minority is Facebook liable? Again Facebook isn't a potential party to a rental or sale agreement. Can't deny you housing. Again Facebook isn't the one placing the ad.
FireBeyond 8y ago
Facebook is aware, by virtue of the filtering in their system that allows such targeting to have, that such advertising is illegal, and chooses to present it (_and make money from it_) anyway.
CydeWeys 8y ago
The laws are on the books because of rampant discrimination against minorities in prior eras. It took the entire civil rights movement to start to make progress on addressing these issues, which included laws making some of the worst practices illegal. I'm trying not to say anything too mean, so I'll just say this: learn some history.

The difference is that the law shouldn't even be on the books imo. The person discriminating is the private property owner/manager they engaged in the advertising. Facebook did not.

mikec3010 8y ago

We live in the Ninny Age where our government protectors have to protect the Sacred Minority. Right dang? It's illegal to think otherwise.

MBCook 8y ago

Knives have legal uses. In the context of housing ads (or employment) these tools DO NOT have legal uses. Thus they are illegal.

mynegation 8y ago
I don’t argue that ads in the context of housing is illegal. Targeting specific demographic using protected categories in other areas can be legal too. As a pharmaceutical company you can target women, men, seniors for targeted medications. As a LGBTQ dating site you can target based on sexual orientation and cis/trans. It is not illegal. Housing and jobs (maybe something else) are covered by specific legislation.
- MBCook 8y ago
  Agreed. These restrictions only apply in a few legally defined areas. The fact an LGBT dating site can choose ‘don’t show to heterosexual people (a waste of my ad spend)’ is one of the reasons their platform is so effective, especially compared to mass media like TV/magazines.
gpm 8y ago
That seems like a poor argument for why it should be illegal, since facebook ads are not limited to housing and employment. The analogous argument for knives would be "In the context of torture knives don't have any legal uses. (So knife sellers need to put safe guards in preventing their knives from torturing people)".

sizzle 8y ago

How would a common person know they were discriminated against digitally on Facebook? Why should such a tool geared towards discrimination of protected classes not be held liable when there is no alternative legal use case for allowing filtering of protected classes for displaying of housing ads. As a user of Facebook, this method of discrimination is markedly different than physically showing up to a house for rent and the home owner taking one look at you, scrunching up their face, and saying it's no longer available, tipping you off that what they are doing is illegal.

AdamM12 8y ago
If Facebook isn't displaying the ad to you but you walk into the apartment management office and are denied the ability to rent (despite having the means) because you are a minority is Facebook liable? Again Facebook isn't a potential party to a rental or sale agreement. Can't deny you housing. Again Facebook isn't the one placing the ad.

FireBeyond 8y ago

Facebook is aware, by virtue of the filtering in their system that allows such targeting to have, that such advertising is illegal, and chooses to present it (_and make money from it_) anyway.

CydeWeys 8y ago

The laws are on the books because of rampant discrimination against minorities in prior eras. It took the entire civil rights movement to start to make progress on addressing these issues, which included laws making some of the worst practices illegal. I'm trying not to say anything too mean, so I'll just say this: learn some history.