In an effort to keep advertising safe and civil on Facebook, the social media giant has recently released news that they will removing 5,000 targeting options from there ad platform.
Facebook announced the reason behind this move is to protect users from discriminatory advertising on there platform. The removal of these targeting options is said to minimize the risk of abuse. Facebook also announced that they will be limiting the ability for advertisers to exclude audiences which relate to ethnicity or religion.
Facebook also stated that in an effort to educate advertisers, they will roll out a new certification for advertisers to obtain through the ads manager tool. See the official statement below:
“We want to help educate advertisers about their obligations under our policies. For over a year, we have required advertisers we identify offering housing, employment or credit ads to certify compliance with our non-discrimination policy. In the coming weeks, this new certification will roll out gradually to all US advertisers via our Ads Manager tool. Advertisers will be required to complete this certification in order to continue advertising on Facebook. We’ve designed this education in consultation with outside experts to underscore the difference between acceptable ad targeting and ad discrimination.
We’ll expand this to advertisers using our other tools and APIs, and those in additional countries, over time.”