Meta will remove gender on ads targeting teens

As the world’s largest social media platform, Meta is taking further action against discrimination.

After they agreed to settle the charges which enabled housing discrimination through ad targeting happened in the United States, in 2019, Meta is now announcing that age and location will be the only filters to keep their apps age-appropriate for teens. Advertisers will no longer be able to utilise gender as a targeting option starting from February onwards. Meta acknowledged that teens are not necessarily as equipped as adults to make decisions on how their online data is used for advertising. Hence, they are further restricting the options advertisers have to reach teens.

Meta giving teens more control

Previously, Meta has already prohibited restricted ad topics such as alcohol, weight loss products, and financial products. In March, Meta will broaden this change by giving teens more control over their ads management with a more updated As Topic Controls. This way, teens will be able to manage the types of ads they see on Facebook and Instagram. They could further control what they see in the Ad Preferences within Settings and choose “See Less” or “No Preference”.

What changes are Meta making

In 2021, Meta made adjustments to how advertisers can reach teens such as the removal of the option for advertisers to target teenagers based on their interests and actions. The further updates on the next month’s ad system–removal of gender as a targeting option–will limit advertisers in managing their target audience. With age and location as the only targeting options available, Meta aims to ensure teens are exposed to ads that are meant for their age and the products and services available where they live. In addition, teens’ engagements across Facebook pages and Instagram posts they have liked will not inform what ads they see.

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