Black lawmakers say Facebook affinity targeting tool could violate civil rights laws

Facebook’s ethnic affinity targeting tool, which allows advertisers to target individuals based on race, has drawn criticism from a group of US lawmakers.

Members of the Congressional Black Caucus sent a letter to Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg telling him the company might be breaking federal law with its practice of letting advertisers exclude certain racial groups from seeing their ads.

'We are writing to express our deep concerns with reports that Facebook’s 'Ethnic Affinities' advertising customization feature allows for advertisers to exclude specific racial and ethnic groups when placing housing advertisements,' the letter from members stated. “This is in direct violation of the Fair Housing Act of 1968, and it is our strong desire to see Facebook address this issue immediately.”

Facebook issued this statement in response: 'Multicultural marketing is a common practice in the ad industry and helps brands reach audiences with more relevant advertising. We've heard from groups and policy makers who are concerned about some of the ways our targeting tools could be used by advertisers. We are listening and working to better understand these concerns.'

The lawmakers also took the opportunity to slam Facebook on the lack of diversity within its ranks.

“With 2% of Facebook’s U.S. employees being African American, and 4% Hispanic, we remain convinced that a stronger commitment to diversifying the ranks of your company, especially in senior management positions, to better reflect the diversity of your 1.7 billion monthly users will help in ensuring that innovative and inclusive platforms continue to be promoted by your company,” Caucus members wrote in the letter.