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Facebook let marketers target ads to ‘Jew Haters’

The social network says it has since removed those anti-Semitic advertiser categories.

Facebook is in more hot water because of its advertising business.

The world’s largest social network is reviewing its ad policies after an investigation published by ProPublica on Thursday revealed marketers could specifically target their ads to reach anti-Semites.

Ads could be directed toward Facebook users who fell under that ad categories “Jew hater,” “How to burn jews” and “History of ‘why jews ruin the world.'” Facebook says it has since removed those categories.

Like most of the tech industry’s ad platforms, Facebook’s advertising software is mostly automated. The categories are generated based on the expressed interests of users, or what Facebook can infer about users’ interests. Advertisers can target people based on their self-reported information, like education or employer. The anti-Semitic categories were generated after people entered things like “Jew hater” into their field of study.

 

Read the full article by Richard Nieva at CNet.