Meta will ban advertisements targeting ethnicity, religion and sexuality

Facebook and Instagram are going to make it impossible to advertise on categories such as ethnicity, religious or political affiliations and sexual orientations. Parent company Meta is implementing that ban after researchers and activists argued for it years ago.

The new changes will take effect on January 19 next year, the company writes in a blog post. From then on, the categories will be removed from the Detailed Targeting program for ads placed on Facebook and Instagram. Advertisers can then no longer specifically target their ads on ‘topics that people may consider sensitive’. Meta cites several examples, such as topics related to health, sexual orientation, religious beliefs and political and social preferences. Those categories are determined based on how users interact with the platform.

Meta will also release multiple options on Wednesday for users to change their advertising preferences. Users can then determine that they see fewer ads in four types of categories. These are advertisements about education, alcohol and pets. These categories will be expanded next year. This was already possible for political advertisements.

Facebook has been struggling for years with advertisements around sensitive topics. As far back as 2010, researchers warned that Facebook ads could reveal a person’s sexuality. Also in 2018, The Guardian revealed that it was possible to target user specifically to homosexuality or their particular religion. Political ads in particular are difficult for the social network. These were used, among other things, to hinder voting during elections in the United States.