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Facebook ads in race claim

A new report is questioning whether Facebook's ad platform allows advertisers to illegally target ads at people based on their race.

ProPublica says it was able to purchase and run an ad on the social network for a housing listing, and then use a feature called "Racial Affinity" to exclude users in certain racial groups from being able to view the ad.

The publication questions whether the feature could be in violation of both fair housing and civil rights laws by allowing the creators of advertisements or postings to discriminate against specific racial groups.

Facebook, meanwhile, counters that the Racial Affinities feature is in line with standard advertising practices and is in fact intended to let advertisers post more diverse ad campaigns that can be specifically targeted at multiple groups. ®

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