YOU MIGHT LIKE...

Facebook Allowed Advertisers to Target Users Interested in Militias Despite Banning Violent Groups

Though Facebook promised to axe violent extremist groups, the social network still thought users might be interested in them.

Facebook labeled users as interested in militias and allowed advertisers to target them despite banning such groups last year in the run-up to the November presidential election, BuzzFeed News reports. In late 2020, the social network promised to axe pages “tied to offline anarchist groups that support violent acts amidst protests, US-based militia organizations, and QAnon.” Researchers found, however, that Facebook continued to classify users as interested in “militia” and “resistance movement” in its breakdown of categories that advertisers could target. A Facebook spokesperson told BuzzFeed News, “We removed this targeting term last summer and are working to understand why it could appear in Ad Preferences.”