It?s ?the virtual equivalent of posting a for-rent sign that says No Families with Young Kids or No Women? Housing advocates filed a federal lawsuit against Facebook in a Manhattan courtroom this morning, alleging that the social network and advertising platform enables landlords and real estate brokers to exclude families with children, women, and other protected classes from seeing housing ads.
The plaintiffs?the National Fair Housing Association, the Fair Housing Justice Center of New York City, Housing Opportunities Project for Excellence, Inc. in Miami; and the Fair Housing Council of Greater San Antonio?allege that Facebook, by utilizing the personal data of users to help advertisers target (and exclude) specific groups and audiences, enables discriminatory practices that violate the Fair Housing Act. ?Facebook?s platform is the virtual equivalent of posting a for-rent sign that says No Families with Young Kids or No Women, but it does so in an insidious and stealth manner so that people have no clue they have been excluded on the basis of family status or sex,? said FHJC?s Executive Director Fred Freiberg in a statement.
To prove their point, the plaintiffs created a fake realty firm and prepared dozens of housing advertisements, which they submitted to the social network for review. Facebook provided the fake firm with specific lists of groups that could be excluded from seeing the ads, including families with children, moms with children of c...