Facebook explains that it is totally not doing racial profiling

Cookie Lyon is not impressed. (credit: FOX)

On Friday, we reported that Facebook has a marketing tool that targets groups based on what the company believes your race is after assessing your activity. Today, Facebook reps explained to Ars how this targeting works—and why it isn't really about race or ethnicity. Instead, they say it's about ethnic activities and interests.

It sounds confusing because Facebook is trying to do two contradictory things. The company wants to offer advertisers access to multicultural communities, but it also wants to claim that it isn't identifying users by their races. So how exactly do you become part of an "ethnic affinity" target group without being targeted as an ethnicity? Reps say Facebook never looks at census data, names, photos, or private information. Instead, they focus on what language you speak, where you're from, and what interests you declare. Let's say you are a fan of BET and have shown an interest in #BlackLivesMatter—well, then, you might be categorized as part of an African-American ethnic affinity.

That doesn't mean that Facebook has identified you as a black person, Facebook reps hasten to say. It just means that you seem like you would be interested in black culture or activities. "They like African-American content," one rep told Ars. "But we cannot and do not say to advertisers that they are ethnically black. Facebook does not have a way for people to self-identify by race or ethnicity on the platform."

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