After weeks of push back from U.S. lawmakers, media and civil rights leaders, Facebook FB -1.44% on Friday announced it will stop allowing advertisers to use \u201cethnic affinity\u201d to target the reach of employment, housing and credit-related ads with the aim of better preventing discrimination on the social network.<\/span><\/p>\n Facebook\u2019s policies ban discriminatory advertising content or \u201cad creative.\u201d However, before Friday, Facebook allowed advertisers to use \u201cethnic affinity,\u201d among a host of other signals such as gender, age, favorite movies, food preferences and geography, to determine the reach of any type of ad, including ads related to housing, employment and credit services.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cRecently, policymakers and civil rights leaders have expressed concerns that advertisers could misuse some aspects of our affinity marketing segments,\u201d Erin Egan, Facebook\u2019s vice president of U.S. public policy and chief privacy officer, said in a blog post. \u201cSpecifically, they\u2019ve raised the possibility that some advertisers might use these segments to run ads that discriminate against people, particularly in areas where certain groups have historically faced discrimination \u2014 housing, employment and the extension of credit.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cDiscriminatory advertising has no place on Facebook,\u201d Egan added.<\/span><\/p>\n Facebook said it will build tools \u201cto detect and automatically disable the use of ethnic affinity marketing\u201d for ads it identifies as offering housing, employment or credit. The company said it will also update its Advertising Policies and require advertisers to confirm that they will not \u201cengage in discriminatory advertising.\u201d Egan said Facebook has been meeting with a number of political leaders and organizations such as the New York State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, U.S. Rep. Robin Kelly of Illinois and the Congressional Black Caucus, to hear their concerns and input on how the company can curb discrimination.<\/span><\/p>\n Facebook does not allow users to identify their race. However, Facebook uses a range of signals to associate users with various \u201cethnic affinity\u201d categories, such as Asian-American, African-American, and several Hispanic groups.<\/span><\/p>\n \u201cThere are many nondiscriminatory uses of our ethnic-affinity solution in these areas, but we have decided that we can best guard against discrimination by suspending these types of ads,\u201d Egan said.<\/span><\/p>\n A story by ProPublica last month, which questioned how \u201cethnic affinity\u201d could be used in Facebook ad targeting, drew attention to the company\u2019s policies. In November, the U.S. Congressional Black Caucus wrote to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg expressing concerns about the potential for Facebook\u2019s \u201cethnic affinity\u201d targeting to be used in discriminatory ways. Facebook at first defended its prior policy, saying it strictly prohibited \u201cnegative exclusion.\u201d.<\/span><\/p>\n Facebook\u2019s extensive user data and targeting tools are critical to the success of the company\u2019s mammoth advertising business. Facebook\u2019s global ad revenue is expected to total $25.9 billion this year, according to forecasting firm eMarketer, making Facebook the largest ad publisher after Google. Globally, each Facebook user will generate an estimated $15.83 for the social media giant this year, eMarketer said.<\/span><\/p>\n Facebook users can access an ad preferences panel to see the interests and demographic information that influence the ads they see. And users can manually remove \u201cinterests\u201d linked to their account that are used for ad targeting.<\/span><\/p>\n Source:\u00a0http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kathleenchaykowski\/2016\/11\/11\/facebook-to-ban-ethnic-affinity-targeting-for-housing-employment-credit-related-ads\/#37628a77a747<\/span><\/p>\n