Meta settles with US government over ad targeting-enabled housing discrimination

Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge

According to a press release from the Department of Justice, Meta and the US government have agreed on a settlement to clear up a lawsuit that accused the company of facilitating housing discrimination by letting advertisers specify that ads not be shown to people who are protected from discrimination. The full agreement can be found below.

The government brought a case against Meta for housing discrimination in 2019. The company took some steps to address the problem, but they weren't enough for the feds This was the first case in which the department dealt with the fair housing act.

The settlement will have to be approved by a judge before it is truly final, but it does say that Meta will have to stop using a discriminatory algorithm for housing ads.

The new system will replace the Special Ad Audiences tool for housing. The tool made it possible for advertisers to advertise to people that were similar to a group. Special Ad Audiences took things like a user's estimated race, national origin, and sex into account when deciding who to advertise to, according to the DOJ. The settlement does not constitute an admission of guilt or a finding of liability according to Meta.

Meta plans to use machine learning to ensure the age, gender and estimated race or ethnicity of a housing ad's overall audience matches the age, gender and estimated race or ethnicity of the population. The system is supposed to make sure that people who are eligible to see the ad are seen by them. Meta will look at age, gender, and race to see how far off the target audience is.

The system has to be built into the platform by the end of December 2022, according to the settlement.

As it builds the new system, the company will be sharing its progress. A third party will investigate and verify on an ongoing basis if the government approves it and it is put into place.

There will be a $115,054 penalty. The maximum amount allowed for a Fair Housing Act violation is what it is.