Democrats Seek Answers on Facebook’s Ad Practices

Facebook must address “misleading” information regarding targeted advertising for teens, Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., wrote the company Monday with Reps. Lori Trahan, D-Mass., and Kathy Castor, D-Fla. They noted Facebook’s recent announcement about a policy change to “significantly limit” targeted ads for children and teens on the platform. New research shows Facebook “continues to target teens with ads based on those users’ personal information.” The lawmakers asked the company to detail the “process by which targeted ads reach young teens” and address these reported misleading practices. A Meta spokesperson confirmed the company received the letter and cited a statement from last week: “It’s wrong to say that because we show data in our transparency tools it’s automatically used for ads. We don’t use data from our advertisers' and partners' websites and apps to personalize ads to people under 18. The reason this information shows up in our transparency tools is because teens visit sites or apps that use our business tools.”