Facebook appears to be in hot water again, this time in the realm of affordable housing.
HUD has filed a formal complaint against the social media giant alleging the company has violated the Fair Housing Act, reports Donna Kimura of MFE sister brand Affordable Housing Finance.
HUD claims Facebook enables advertisers to control which users receive housing-related ads based upon the recipient’s race, color, religion, sex, familial status, national origin, disability, and/or ZIP code.
“Facebook then invites advertisers to express unlawful preferences by offering discriminatory options, allowing them to effectively limit housing options for these protected classes under the guise of ‘targeted advertising,’ ” says HUD.
Violations the agency cites against Facebook include allowing advertisers to 1) show housing ads to only men or women; 2) neglect to show ads to those in the deaf community, those interested in child care, and other groups; 3) display or not display ads to users interested in a specific religion or place of worship, among other wrongdoings.