[ad_1]
Facebook has agreed to stop using its digital advertising tool and change its algorithms to settle a lawsuit filed by the Department of Justice for alleged violations of the Fair Housing Act.
Justice Department officials said the US government has reached a settlement with Facebook’s parent company Meta to settle its lawsuit Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of New York.
The lawsuit alleged that Meta’s residential ads system discriminated against people on Facebook on issues such as race, religion, gender and disability.
“This deal marks the first time that Meta has agreed to discontinue one of its algorithmic targeting tools and change its distribution algorithms for residential ads in response to a civil rights lawsuit,” Deputy Attorney General Kristen Clarke said in a statement. “The Department of Justice is committed to holding Meta and other tech companies accountable when they misuse algorithms in ways that unlawfully harm marginalized communities.”
Meta has to pay a $115,054 fine, according to the Department of Justice.
Roy L. Austin Jr., Meta’s vice president and vice president of general counsel, said the company has worked with the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) for more than a year to “develop a new use of machine learning technology.” The overall audience for the residential ad matches a mixed population eligible to see the ad.
“While HUD has specifically raised concerns about personalized housing ads, we plan to use this method for employment and credit related ads as well,” Mr. Austin wrote on the company’s blog. “Discrimination in housing, employment, and credit is a long-standing problem in the United States, and we are committed to expanding opportunities for marginalized communities in these and other areas.”
According to the Justice Department, Meta’s new system to address racial and other claims of inequality caused by personalization algorithms in the ad delivery system will be developed over the next six months.
“If the United States concludes that the new system adequately addresses the discriminatory distribution of residential advertisements, Meta will implement the system, which will be subject to Department of Justice approval and court review,” the Justice Department said in a statement Tuesday. Said. “If the United States concludes that the new system is insufficient to address algorithmic discrimination in the distribution of housing advertisements, the settlement agreement will be terminated.”
The Justice Department noted that the settlement agreement makes Meta’s ad targeting and delivery system subject to judicial review for the first time.
Congress has also considered expanding the federal government’s oversight of major tech companies reviewing their algorithms. Last year, Delaware Democrat Sens. Chris Coons; Amy Klobuchar, Minnesota Democrat; and Rob Portman, Ohio Republican; He said they are working on a bill that would require disclosure of certain information by social media companies to researchers and the public.
Facebook isn’t the only social platform that has come to an agreement with the federal government over claims related to its ad system. Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission It has been ordered Twitter will pay a $150 million fine last month for data privacy breaches resulting from information collected by Twitter and used by companies to send targeted ads.
[ad_2]
Source link