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FB does enforce the fair housing act and other laws. The platform is actually quite strict nowadays and catches lots of innocent ads in their filters for protec

by cm2012 6y ago

FB does enforce the fair housing act and other laws. The platform is actually quite strict nowadays and catches lots of innocent ads in their filters for protected categories. Ad platforms should follow the law, that's working as planned.

HWR_14 6y ago
FB may do so now but that's only because of lawsuits as recently as 2019. It wasn't something they volunteered to do. But you asked how targeted ads hurt people, and I showed a fairly recent example. Something that wouldn't exist without targeted advertising. How does that not prove my point?
- cm2012 6y ago
  Its not like FB has ever let advertisers "exclude black people" before. The critics said it may be possible that protected categories get less ads for housing, employment, etc due to algorithmic bias. That is a subtle danger, and honestly hard to technically implement at scale, but I think FB has always given a good faith effort in this area.
  - HWR_14 6y ago
    If by "not ever let advertisers exclude black people" you mean "after March 2019 has not knowing let advertisers exclude black people" than FB and the NYT would agree with you: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/technology/facebook-discrimination-ads.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/technology/facebook-discr...
    - cm2012 6y ago
      No, you have never been able to target by race. NY times is referring to algorithmic targeting that incidentally correlated to race, which FB cleaned up in 2019.
      - HWR_14 6y ago
        There is no difference between "filter out black people" and "filter out X, (X correlates 99% with black people)". And I mean that legally, morally and practically. Here's a list of ways around "cannot filter by race". It took 2 seconds on google: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2011/12/06/how-to-target-ethnicities-on-facebook/ https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2011/12/06/how-to-target-e... But, you seem to be shifting the goalposts pretty significantly. So, do you agree with the base point that targeted ads can produce pretty bad results?

by cm2012 6y ago

HWR_14 6y ago

FB may do so now but that's only because of lawsuits as recently as 2019. It wasn't something they volunteered to do. But you asked how targeted ads hurt people, and I showed a fairly recent example. Something that wouldn't exist without targeted advertising. How does that not prove my point?

cm2012 6y ago
Its not like FB has ever let advertisers "exclude black people" before. The critics said it may be possible that protected categories get less ads for housing, employment, etc due to algorithmic bias. That is a subtle danger, and honestly hard to technically implement at scale, but I think FB has always given a good faith effort in this area.
- HWR_14 6y ago
  If by "not ever let advertisers exclude black people" you mean "after March 2019 has not knowing let advertisers exclude black people" than FB and the NYT would agree with you: https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/technology/facebook-discrimination-ads.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/03/19/technology/facebook-discr...
  - cm2012 6y ago
    No, you have never been able to target by race. NY times is referring to algorithmic targeting that incidentally correlated to race, which FB cleaned up in 2019.
    - HWR_14 6y ago
      There is no difference between "filter out black people" and "filter out X, (X correlates 99% with black people)". And I mean that legally, morally and practically. Here's a list of ways around "cannot filter by race". It took 2 seconds on google: https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2011/12/06/how-to-target-ethnicities-on-facebook/ https://www.searchenginewatch.com/2011/12/06/how-to-target-e... But, you seem to be shifting the goalposts pretty significantly. So, do you agree with the base point that targeted ads can produce pretty bad results?