Facebook parent Meta to remove sensitive ad categories

Facebook’s parent company Meta says it will remove sensitive ad targeting options related to health, race or ethnicity, political affiliation, religion or sexual orientation beginning on Jan. 19. Currently, advertisers can target people who have expressed interest in issues, public figures or organisations connected to these topics.That information comes from tracking user activity on Facebook, Instagram and other platforms the company owns.

For instance, someone who’s shown interest in “same-sex marriage” may be shown an ad from a non-profit supporting same-sex marriage. But the categories could also be misused and Meta, formerly Facebook, has been under intense scrutiny from regulators and the public to clean its platform of abuse and misinformation.