Facebook Ends Political & Religious Ad Targeting

Facebook Adjusts Ad Targeting Policies

Facebook has recently declared it will discontinue allowing advertisers to target users based on potentially sensitive attributes. These include areas such as health conditions, sexual preferences, and religious or political viewpoints.

Interest categories like “lung cancer awareness,” “LGBT culture,” and “Jewish holidays” will no longer be available for ad targeting beginning in the new year.

Decision-Making Process

The company acknowledged that removing these Detailed Targeting options was a difficult choice. They also stated it may have adverse effects on certain businesses and organizations.

This decision followed input from civil rights advocates, government officials, and other involved parties, as detailed in a company blog post.

How Facebook Targeting Works

Facebook currently targets users utilizing information they voluntarily provide in their profiles, such as age, location, and gender.

However, a company representative clarified to TechCrunch that the platform never permitted targeting based on sexual orientation as explicitly listed in user profiles.

The changes affect ads delivered based on the interest categories assigned to user profiles.

Interest Category Assignment

Facebook assigns these interest categories based on user activity on the platform.

Engagement with Facebook content leads to category assignments, which can include those deemed “sensitive,” like “American Jewish culture,” “LGBT rights,” or “Barack Obama.”

Advertisers will be unable to target ads based on these interests starting January 19th.

Conversely, non-sensitive interest groups, such as “rock climbing” and “knitting,” will remain available for targeting – representing a substantial number of the total categories.

Managing Your Interest Categories

Users can view their assigned interest categories by navigating to Settings & Privacy > Settings > Ads > Ad Settings > Categories used to reach you > Interest Categories on the desktop version of Facebook.

It is possible to opt out of receiving ads based on specific interests within these settings.

Context of the Policy Change

This ad policy adjustment occurs as Meta – Facebook’s parent company – faces heightened scrutiny.

This scrutiny stems from a series of senate hearings related to documents leaked by former employee Frances Haugen.

Meta has responded defensively to press reports, asserting that some coverage has misrepresented its actions as more documents become public.

Past Concerns and Actions

Facebook’s advertising policies have been a source of concern for several years.

Prior to the 2020 U.S. presidential election, Facebook implemented restrictions on the types of political advertisements permitted.

In 2018, the platform removed over 5,000 ad targeting options following a complaint filed by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).

The complaint alleged that Facebook facilitated discriminatory practices by landlords and home sellers, violating the Fair Housing Act.

Previously, in 2016, Facebook disabled “ethnic affinity” targeting for ads related to housing, employment, and credit after a ProPublica report highlighted potential for discriminatory advertising.

Targeting ads based on certain demographics in these areas is legally prohibited.

Another ProPublica report prompted Facebook to remove ad targeting based on anti-Semitic interest categories.

Company Statement

“We want to better match people’s evolving expectations of how advertisers may reach them on our platform and address feedback from civil rights experts, policymakers and other stakeholders on the importance of preventing advertisers from abusing the targeting options we make available,” Facebook stated.

The company reiterated that removing these Detailed Targeting options was not easy and acknowledged potential negative impacts on businesses.

Potential Benefits of Data Usage

While Facebook cited concerns about data misuse, some stakeholders expressed worry that the data could be used beneficially.

For instance, individuals interested in “Diabetes awareness” could be connected with relevant nonprofit organizations.

Alternative Targeting Methods

Despite these changes, Facebook provides businesses with various tools to reach specific audiences.

Advertisers can utilize data from users who have opted into ad tracking on iPhones.

Furthermore, businesses can leverage engagement custom audiences, lookalike audiences, and other techniques, as outlined in the company’s blog post.