Meta bans ads targeting teens based on gender

Meta, the parent company of Instagram and Facebook, said Tuesday that it will no longer allow advertisers to continue targeting teens based on their gender, as it fights allegations that its platforms are harmful for young users.

The social networking giant informed advertisers, the company’s main source of income, that since February they could only use age segments and placement for ad campaigns targeting teens globally.

Another change in practice is that the previous activity of teens using Meta apps will not be used to determine which ads they see, the company said.

On its blog, Meta published that the changes are taking place as it acknowledges “that the teenagers are not necessarily as ready like adults to make decisions about how their data is used online for advertising.

Meta says the changes reflect feedback from parents and experts.

The company, formerly known as Facebook, is facing mounting pressure and fines to curb its practice of serve highly targeted advertising to its users, a model that has netted billions of dollars in profit each year.

The Silicon Valley giant was fined 413 million dollarss last week as part of a lengthy legal dispute with the European Union over advertising.

Google and Apple have also faced investigations and fines by regulators for breaching privacy laws through targeted advertising.

In the United States, Meta and other social media companies have faced the scrutiny of local authorities, with national laws blocked due to heavy lobbying by tech giants and a politically divided Congress in Washington.