Ad targeting

Ever since the COVID-19 pandemic ballooned out of proportion, tech companies have been feeling the heat. Most countries around the world, with the EU in particular, have started holding them accountable for information shared online. As a result, there have been a lot of discussions and debates regarding how to ensure such companies use their power wisely. The world is still debating on the data tax bill, and Google and Facebook have been asked to fact-check the information they share. Amidst all of this, Facebook has now asked NYU to stop a study they were conducting on political advertisements. Here’s a look at everything you need to know about Facebook’s stand, and how the world is reacting to it.

Facebook Blocks the NYU

New York University seems to be in a lockdown contest against Facebook. The tech giant has asked NYU to stop collecting data for a study it is doing on political ads propagated by Facebook. However, journalists, lawyers, academics, and First Amendment activists have come to the support of NYU. The study essentially focuses on how the tech giant micro-targets specific individuals with their political ads. While Facebook has asked the university to shut down its data collection tool, researchers believe that the tool is integral to their study. In essence, the tool helps the academics track how Facebook serves as a source of misinformation and manipulation by several extremist political groups.

Disable Tools Collecting Data

A Facebook executive order that came out on October 16 demands that researchers disable their data collection tool. The University depends on a special plug-in for both Firefox and Chrome browsers to collect data regarding the ads. The University has signed on over 6500 volunteers across the US to help with the data collection. Facebook’s new order demands that the University halt its data collection and delete the information obtained. The plug-in essentially allows the researchers to see what ads each volunteer views, helping them understand how Facebook targets users. The researchers claim that Facebook’s algorithm for tailor-made ads depends on a lot more than gender, race, age, and political afflictions. 

Facebook’s Side of Things

Allison Hendrix, the executive from Facebook, states that the tool violates Facebook’s rules. She also noted that the social media giant does not allow the automatic collection of bulk data from it. The letter also warned of enforcement action in case the NYU did not comply with November 30th. Also, Joe Osborne, who serves as Facebook’s spokesperson, stated that the tech giant had informed NYU months ago to not move forward with their study. He claims that the company had warned them that doing so would be a violation of their terms. Furthermore, he also stated that Facebook works extensively to ensure the privacy of its users’ data. However, researchers at NYU claim that their tool does not violate any terms as it collects data from volunteers anonymously.

Reaction to the Threat

The public seems to be rallying against the social media giant with several prominent personalities calling out the social media giant. Ever since the Wall Street Journal broke the news on Friday, public sentiment seems to be on the side of the researchers. The WSJ quickly pointed out that NYU’s Ad Observer tool may shine some much-needed light on Facebook’s policies on advertisements. The tool has been in effect since September by volunteers from Utah to Florida to Wisconsin. Ramya Krishnan, who works as a lawyer with Columbia University’s Knight First Amendment Institute, represents the researchers. She was quick to point out that it was unfortunate that Facebook is attaching a tool that will help identify gaps within the current framework. Since the study aims to expose disinformation related to the American elections, Krishnan believes the paper should not be halted. She also pointed out that the public deserves to know how they are being targeted and that Facebook cannot serve as a gatekeeper to information. 

Julia Angwin, who serves as an editor of The Markup, which is a tech news website, also tweeted in disappointment after Facebook’s statement. Since the NYU’s Ad Observatory was the only way researchers could explore micro-targeting of political ads, she deemed this move extremely controversial and disappointing. In a statement released by NYU, researcher Damon McCoy stated that the study focuses on how Facebook profiles citizens. After profiling, the company sends them misinformation regarding policies and candidates to influence their votes.

While 2016 witnessed social outcry over Facebook’s political ad-running algorithm, history seems to be repeating this time around. Ads on traditional media are accounted for as they have to create an ad archive that lists who paid for the ad and how long it ran. However, social media companies do not have any such rules in place, making it difficult to see their political biases. With right-wing content trending in the last few weeks on the platform, the move to block the study will only further hurt Facebook’s public standing. Last year, over 200 researchers asked Facebook to lift bans on the collection of data. It will be interesting to see if Facebook’s terms hold in a court of law and whether the study ends u exposing the company’s biases.