Facebook offered ads targeted at "Jew-haters" until ProPublica asked about it

Rob Beschizza 2:02 pm Thu Sep 14, 2017

Facebook removed several antisemitic ad categories after ProPublica asked about them and "promised to improve monitoring."

Want to market Nazi memorabilia, or recruit marchers for a far-right rally? Facebook's self-service ad-buying platform had the right audience for you.

Until this week, when we asked Facebook about it, the world's largest social network enabled advertisers to direct their pitches to the news feeds of almost 2,300 people who expressed interest in the topics of "Jew hater," "How to burn jews," or, "History of 'why jews ruin the world.'"

Surely what Facebook means by "monitoring" is monitoring what Facebook exposes about itself, not what Facebook itself monitors.

ProPublica (having bought ads targeted at the antisemitic categories and verified their fulfillment) offers this tobesure about how it all works:

"In all likelihood, the ad categories that we spotted were automatically generated … Facebook's algorithm automatically transforms people's declared interests into advertising categories."

It can't be racist, it's just a computer program!

What's it like to be mixed race in China?

Being mixed in any country isn't a picnic, but it's a nightmare in China. Or, rather, being mixed in China is a nightmare if you're half Black. Despite gobbling up land in Africa with a speed that would make the Dutch blush, China went so far as to ban Hip hop culture—arguably the Blackest form of… READ THE REST
Dillard's employee who called a Black child the N-word was fired

"Homer," the Dillard's employee accused of calling a 10-year-old boy who bumped into him a "fucking n—–," has been fired. "The allegations made against our former employee were promptly investigated," Dillards said in a tweet, "found to be in clear violation of our standards, and his employment with Dillard's was immediately terminated." READ THE REST
Weather Channel apologizes for TV graphic stating: "This is your weather my Ni**ers."

A few days ago, Des Moines, Iowa viewers of the Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" broadcast were greeted with the above graphic reading: "Hello Des Moines, This is your weather my Ni**ers." Journalist Matthew Keys posted a photo of the graphic on Twitter, leading to the Weather Channel issuing the following apology: A graphic… READ THE REST
Get the most out of your internet with an award-winning VPN and a year of PlayStation Plus

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. In the modern world, we're practically dependent on the internet. Everything from working to socializing and general entertainment can be found on the web. So if we can't seem to get our… READ THE REST
Juice up your iPhone or iPad with this rugged-yet-colorful Lightning cable

Remember the last time you juiced up your iPhone using that short little charging cable it came with? The phone probably rang mid-charge, and it was a call you absolutely had to take. Of course, if you were at full charge, you could've taken the call from the comfort of your armchair. But if that… READ THE REST
Become a one-year Sam's Club member with this $15 deal

We thank our sponsor for making this content possible; it is not written by the editorial staff nor does it necessarily reflect its views. Let's face it. Getting what you need from a store shouldn't be insanely inconvenient. But, often, that can be precisely the case, and sometimes prices can make the experience even worse. So, with no… READ THE REST