News Report | September 4, 2018
HUD Sues Facebook For Ad Policies Facilitating Housing Discrimination Against People With Disabilities
On August 13, 2018, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) filed a complaint against Facebook alleging that the site’s ad targeting tools enabled illegal discrimination by owners of housing and housing-related services. On August 21, Facebook announced it would remove more than 5,000 categories from the options advertisers can select to target in an effort to “prevent misuse.”
The HUD housing discrimination complaint against Facebook alleged that the company’s advertising platform allows landlords and home sellers to avoid showing ads to those with interests in categories like “assistance dog,” “mobility scooter,” or “accessibility . . .