It appears that,The Erotic Witch Project 4: Lust in Space just like misery, an investigation into possible discriminatory ad practices facilitated by a tech giant loves company.
Following the March 28 revelation that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has filed charges against Facebook for allegedly violating the Fair Housing Act, the Washington Postnow reports that Google and Twitter are under investigation by the same agency. And for more or less the same thing.
SEE ALSO: Facebook belatedly makes it harder to run some discriminatory adsIt turns out that HUD is looking into the super specific ad-targeting features offered by the companies in an effort to determine if they facilitate housing discrimination. An advertising platform that, say, allows the owner of an apartment complex to purposefully exclude certain groups — such as people of color — from seeing new listings would be in violation of the law.
Facebook settled a lawsuit about this very unfortunate feature of its site earlier this month, but that apparently wasn't enough to remove it from HUD's sights.
“Even as we confront new technologies, the fair housing laws enacted over half a century ago remain clear—discrimination in housing-related advertising is against the law," HUD general counsel Paul Compton said in a March 28 press release. "Just because a process to deliver advertising is opaque and complex doesn’t mean that it exempts Facebook and others from our scrutiny and the law of the land."
Notice the "and others" bit of that statement? Yeah, so did we.
Trouble. Credit: Smith Collection / Gado / getty According to the Post, HUD told Twitter and Google last year that it was looking into similar violations at their respective companies. Unsurprisingly, Twitter is not stoked to be on the receiving end of such an investigation.
"Twitter doesn't allow discriminatory advertising on our platform," a Twitter spokesperson told Mashable over email. "Someone using Twitter to advertise agrees to comply with the law and not use our services for illegal activities. Discrimination in housing and employment is against the law and against our rules."
Likewise, Google made it abundantly clear in a statement to Mashable that it is not down with enabling or facilitating illegal discrimination.
“We’ve had policies in place for many years that prohibit targeting ads on the basis of sensitive categories like race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, disability status, negative financial standing, etc," a spokesperson wrote via email. "Our policies are designed to protect users and ensure that advertisers are using our platforms in a responsible manner."
Yes, policies designed to protect users are great! It's just that sometimes, as Facebook, Google, and Twitter repeatedly remind us, policies alone don't mean much when divorced from the actual product being offered. Especially if the product in question straight up helps bad actors break the law.
Topics Facebook Google X/Twitter
NYT Connections Sports Edition hints and answers for May 19: Tips to solve Connections #238
Sorry, casual fans, but Captain Spip of the 'Biowhale Deep Space' series is NOT a woman
Kendrick Lamar surprises a long
No, a fart didn't cause an American Airlines flight to evacuate all its passengers
New MIT report reveals energy costs of AI tools like ChatGPT
'Game of Thrones' fans couldn't help making this 'Harry Potter' connection
Netflix now has 100 million subscribers
HTC users are seeing banner ads on their keyboards
Amazon Pet Day: All the best deals
'Game of Thrones' season 7 premiere: Let's talk about The Hound
Seven Steam games whose reviews have changed a lot
Kendrick Lamar surprises a long
The 'Game of Thrones' Season 7 premiere was surprisingly hilarious
Apple will reportedly delay more than just the iPhone 8 this year
Patched Desktop PC: Meltdown & Spectre Benchmarked
Creepy house filled with dolls and mannequins is the stuff of nightmares
Samsung's Galaxy Note 7s will be scrapped for parts and rare metals
Cyclist shares freaky sight of his legs after riding in Tour de France
Best JBL deal: Save $80 on JBL Xtreme 4 portable speaker
Embattled former Thinx CEO gets book deal months after settling sexual harassment complaint
Faux-Pas at MOMARadiating RacismPresidential ConfusionThe Year History DiedPoison IviesFresh HellOn EnmityOur RefugeesReverse Robin HoodsNo FilterState of the UnionsJuggalos, Nevertheless PersistingRegarding the Pain of OthersReverse Robin HoodsCut the MusicIt’s Fun to Be in the DSA!The Year History DiedHow Education Reform Ate the Democratic PartyK Street TaxpocalypseDon’t Troll, Organize LG's rollable OLED TV comes to the U.S. with $100,000 price tag Woman gets entire airplane to herself after getting booked onto flight meant for staff President Trump does not actually watch 'The Gorilla Channel' Apple's iOS 14.7 has an annoying bug for some Apple Watch owners Prince Harry is writing a memoir to tell his story in his own words All the ways 'Ted Lasso' gets the UK right — and wrong Donald Trump just confused the word 'consensual' on Twitter How to view an Instagram story without logging in Meryl Streep and Ai First look at Mars's interior reveals a different picture than Earth Clever artist turns Michael Wolff's 'Fire and Fury' into a hilarious pop BBC journalist quits after discovering she earns 50% less than male counterparts Manchester United player Instagrams his version of H&M's offensive hoodie photo 'Masters of the Universe: Revelation' Netflix review: It f*ckin' rules The bizarre tale of Jennifer Lawrence, Emma Stone, and John the Orchestra Guy Clubhouse is finally open to everyone How to use an Xbox controller on your iPhone Google's Olympic Doodle is a full The original songs in 'Schmigadoon!' perfectly capture the joy of musicals Facebook Messenger makes it easier to find perfect emoji reaction
1.7243s , 10132.7109375 kb
Copyright © 2025 Powered by 【The Erotic Witch Project 4: Lust in Space】,Openness Information Network