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Facebook let ad buyers target hate groups

Kai Ryssdal and Emily Henderson Sep 15, 2017
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Facebook let ad buyers target hate groups

Kai Ryssdal and Emily Henderson Sep 15, 2017
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ProPublica reporters investigated a tip and found that they could spend $30 to purchase Facebook ads specifically targeted to “Jew haters” and other anti-Semitic groups. ProPublica alerted Facebook, and the site said such ad audience options were the result of algorithms that automatically create categories based on the interests expressed by Facebook users. Facebook said it will be cracking down on its ad-targeting processes as a result of this discovery, which plays into a larger discussion about tech companies censoring online content. Marketplace host Kai Ryssdal spoke to Julia Angwin of ProPublica about the story. 

Click the audio player above to hear the full story.

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