Washington, DC – Today, in reaction to a ProPublica report on Facebook allowing advertisers to exclude users by race, the National Community Reinvestment Coalition (NCRC) made the following statement:
“NCRC is shocked and appalled to learn that Facebook appears to be engaging in practices that are not only discriminatory, but also illegal,” said NCRC President and CEO John Taylor. “Facebook claims that its goal is to ‘help balance the needs, safety and interests of a diverse community.’ Clearly, offering advertisers the option to exclude users of certain races, as documented in a recent ProPublica report, is directly contrary to the interests of a diverse community. It is also a flagrant violation of laws that protect people from discrimination.”
NCRC Chief of Civil Rights Stella Adams said, “We have long had major concerns about businesses utilizing their massive stockpiles of user data to encroach on people’s civil rights. This is not just an issue with social media sites like Facebook. Lenders and property management companies are also targeting products and services to specific markets in discriminatory ways that are undetectable – or, at least, which they believe are undetectable.”
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About NCRC:
NCRC and its grassroots member organizations create opportunities for people to build wealth. We work with community leaders, policymakers and financial institutions to champion fairness in banking, housing and business development.
