A recent ruling by a California court has spotlighted Facebook’s ad-targeting system, declaring its practices of showing ads to Americans based on age and gender as a violation of the state’s anti-discrimination laws.
Ars Technica reports that a California court has ruled against Facebook (now known as Meta) for its ad-targeting practices, which involve categorizing and targeting ads based on user demographics such as age and gender. The case, initiated by Samantha Liapes, a 48-year-old user, has brought to light potential systemic issues within digital advertising algorithms and their implications on user discrimination.
Mark Zuckerberg Meta Selfie (Facebook)
Liapes, who embarked on a legal battle against Facebook in 2020, alleged that the platform’s ad-targeting system discriminated against her as an older woman, particularly when she was shopping for life insurance policies. Her complaint articulated that “Facebook requires all advertisers to choose the age and gender of its users who will receive ads,” and that companies offering insurance products “routinely tell it to not send their ads to women or older people.” Moreover, Liapes contended that Facebook’s ad-delivery algorithm exacerbates the issue by utilizing these inputs to serve ads to “lookalike audiences.”
The case spotlighted instances where Liapes identified a life insurance ad that was exclusively sent to males aged 30 to 49 and another that was not shown to her because it was only sent to individuals aged 25 to 45. She argued this hindered her from learning about those products or services and accessing deals that “often change and may expire,” which were being disproportionately advertised to younger and/or male audiences on Facebook.
Despite Facebook’s defense that its tools are neutral and that Liapes might have been shown different versions of ads, the court in September sided with Liapes. The court found that she had sufficiently stated a valid discrimination claim, asserting that “construing the complaint liberally and drawing all reasonable inferences in favor of the asserted claims, Liapes has stated an Unruh Civil Rights Act claim.”
The Unruh Civil Rights Act in California prohibits businesses from discriminating against people with protected characteristics, such as gender and age, and is designed to eradicate arbitrary discrimination in business establishments by safeguarding each person’s inherent right to “full and equal” access to “all business establishments.”
Breitbart News previously reported on Facebook settling a lawsuit brought by civil rights groups over ad discrimination:
“As part of the settlement, the company will introduce changes to its ad platform that prevent advertisers for housing, employment or credit from discriminating based on race, ethnicity, sexual orientation, disability and several other factors covered by federal, state, and local civil rights laws,” NBC News reported. “This will include the creation of a separate advertising portal for housing, employment and credit ads across the Facebook platforms, including Facebook, Instagram and Messenger.”
After it was revealed that Facebook was allowing discrimination with its targeted advertising, the company faced lawsuits from the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), National Fair Housing Alliance (NFHA), and Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Read more at Ars Technica here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.