Facebook breaks anti-discrimination laws by targeting ads by age and gender | louder.news

A recent California court ruling has put the spotlight on Facebook’s ad targeting system, declaring its practices of showing ads to Americans based on age and gender a violation of anti-discrimination laws of the state

Ars Technica reports that a California court has ruled against Facebook (now known as Meta) over its ad targeting practices, which involve categorizing and targeting ads based on user demographics, such as age and genre. The case, initiated by Samantha Liapes, a 48-year-old user, has highlighted possible systemic problems within digital advertising algorithms and their implications for user discrimination.

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 purchasing life insurance policies. Her complaint stated that “Facebook forces all advertisers to choose the age and gender of their users who will receive ads,” and that companies that offer insurance products “routinely tell her not to send their ads to women or elderly people”. In addition, Liapes claimed that Facebook’s ad delivery algorithm exacerbates the problem by using these inputs to serve ads to “look-alike audiences.”