Facebook to stop targeted ads based on 'sensitive' topics like religion, politics, race

Social media giant Facebook (now renamed Meta) says it will no longer let advertisers target people based on how interested they are in "sensitive" topics such as political affiliation, religion and sexual orientation, health, race and ethnicity. 

The changes take effect from the next year across Meta's apps, including Facebook, Instagram, and Messenger, and its audience network, which places ads on other smartphone apps.

“Starting January 19, 2022, we will remove Detailed Targeting options that relate to topics people may perceive as sensitive, such as options referencing causes, organizations, or public figures that relate to health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion, or sexual orientation,” Meta official Graham Mudd wrote in a blog post on Tuesday.

This move is being viewed as significant in India as its most populous and politically significant state Uttar Pradesh is going to the polls in the next few months. Fake news, manipulated advertisements and religious polarisation often decide the outcome in this state which houses 1/6th of India's population.

Some more states like Punjab, Gujarat, Goa, Uttarakhand and Himachal will also go to the polls next year. 

The issue of political advertising on Facebook and its targeted approach to influence the users in a subtle way provoked much debate among the public and polity for a long time in India and abroad. 

While many demanded that the content of politicians' ads should be fact-checked and targeted ads based on people’s political beliefs should be stopped, Facebook had resisted the pressure. In addition, FB has also been accused of election manipulation in the US by sharing the data with Cambridge Analytica. 

Mudd admits, "We've heard concerns from experts that targeting options like these could be used in ways that lead to negative experiences for people in underrepresented groups.”

In the blog post, Mudd acknowledged the change will have a cost for some advertisers, including small businesses, nonprofits and advocacy groups.

“They won't be able to use interest-based targeting to promote causes such as lung cancer awareness or World Diabetes Day, or target users interested in same-sex marriage or Jewish holidays, for example. This was not a simple choice and required a balance of competing interests where there was advocacy in both directions," he wrote.

Meta, which makes most of its $86 billion in annual sales from advertising, said it's making the difficult decision in an effort to stop advertisers from using ad targeting to discriminate against or otherwise harm users.

Outside critics and Facebook's own employees have pressured the company for years to overhaul its approach to ads, pointing to advertisers that microtargeted people with tailored messages, excluded people based on protected characteristics, and targeted ads by using anti-Semitic phrases.

But the company has resisted until now, arguing that advertising is an important part of free speech — especially when it comes to political messaging.