Yesterday, Wednesday, Facebook announced its intention to stop advertisers from targeting and exploiting users of the Facebook and Instagram applications, by addressing and exploiting their sensitive interests such as sexual orientation, or political, racial or religious affiliation.
This major shift in the behavior of the social media giant coincides with the major crisis it is facing due to the leaks of Frances Hogan, a former employee of the company, who accused her of prioritizing her profits over the safety of her users.
The network generated $84 billion in revenue in 2020, mostly due to advertising revenue.
Advertisers accept platforms like these because they can target their campaigns precisely at users, as they can choose from thousands of people and categorize people based on the pages they viewed or the ads they stopped at.
Effective January 19, 2022, Facebook will remove thousands of ads, Pages, and personal and group accounts that engage in promotional activities targeting sexual orientation or chronic disease.
The company will also remove ads that use religious terms such as the Catholic Church or religious holidays, as well as political or ethnic affiliations.
This move aims to prevent abuse and systematic exploitation and encourage people to do negative or dangerous practices only because they are gay, cancer patients or of a particular religion, for example.
In January, the Transparency Project denounced advertisements for bulletproof vests targeting members of far-right groups on Facebook.
The site also criticized Facebook for allowing real estate classified ads that "exclude people of color, families with children, women, or people with disabilities."
The new ban will apply to all Meta-owned apps, including Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, and the Facebook Audience Network.
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