Facebook’s new tools to block discrimination in housing, job and credit ads will not apply outside the United States, The Logic has learned.
The social media giant said it would block features allowing advertisers to discriminate based on age and gender two weeks ago. However, the changes will only apply in the United States. And, tests conducted by The Logic show that Facebook is currently approving ads in Canada that appear to discriminate.
The Logic created six ads to test whether it could exclude audiences based on gender and age in housing and job posts. Each ad excluded groups of a specific age and gender. In addition, The Logic was able to post an ad with the headline “Apartment For Rent: Indigenous People Need Not Apply.” The same ad was approved in June 2018; at the time, Facebook said it violated the company’s anti-discrimation policy and should not have been approved. Nine months later, it was approved in three minutes.
