Facebook’s ethnic affinity ad-targeting option drew fire from several group a few weeks ago due to the fact that it attempts to identify individual who might be interested in certain ethnic topics, even though the individuals might not be part of that ethnicity. The problem with this type of ad targeting is that it could be used to discriminate against certain races, which is illegal if used to advertise items such as housing or jobs.
In response, Facebook has figured out a way to determine when ethnic affinity targeting is being utilized for advertising for employment, housing, or credit related ads. Part of Facebook’s plans include rewording of its advertising policies which each brand must agree to. The new policy will emphasize that the ads must not be discriminatory towards people. They will also include information that will help the advertisers make sure their ads stay within the new guidelines.
Once the change is in place, it will remind the advertiser several times throughout the generation of the advertisement, about the new policy. For example, if you are generating an ad for job listing, when you start the process, Facebook will provide a message reminding you about the policy.
The downside is that if the advertiser decides to disregard the reminders and warnings about using the ethnic affinity targeting feature for discriminatory purposes, then it will be up to the automated approval engine of Facebook to recognize the offense and prevent the ad from being published. If the system doesn’t flag the ad and allows it to be used, then it will be displayed and viewed by users. At that point, it Facebook will rely on its users to identify the discriminatory ad and report it to Facebook.