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Across the FieldAmicus brief on discrimination and Facebook's Ad Platform
In Opiotennione v. Facebook
Aaron Rieke, Natasha Duarte, and Logan Koepke
Amicus briefWe filed a legal brief in Opiotennione v. Facebook arguing that Section 230 should not fully immunize Facebook’s Ad Platform from liability under California and D.C. law prohibiting discrimination. We describe how Facebook itself, independently of its advertisers, participates in the targeting and delivery of financial services ads based on gender and age.
Related Work
Our empirical research showed that Facebook’s ad delivery algorithms effectively differentiate the price of reaching a user based on their inferred political alignment with the advertised content, inhibiting political campaigns’ ability to reach voters with diverse political views.
Across the FieldOur empirical research showed that Facebook’s “Special Audiences” ad targeting tool can reflect demographic biases. We provide experimental proof that removing demographic features from a real-world algorithmic system’s inputs can fail to prevent biased outputs.
Across the FieldWe filed a legal brief arguing that Section 230 should not fully immunize Facebook’s Ad Platform from liability under a California antidiscrimination law.
Across the FieldIn The Atlantic, we argue that digital platforms — which deliver exponentially more ads than their newsprint predecessors — are making core civil-rights laws increasingly challenging to enforce.
Across the Field