
Facebook let advertisers target “Jew haters.” It doesn’t end there - coloneltcb
http://www.slate.com/blogs/future_tense/2017/09/14/facebook_let_advertisers_target_jew_haters_it_doesn_t_end_there.html
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eggsby
I really doubt there was any human review of the targeting settings, likely
just automated verification.

If I'm writing a tool that allows users to enter their own n-grams is there an
expectation that I also need to write a tool that detects if they are
inputting pernicious n-grams?

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kazinator
Exactly. What a non-story here.

Moreover, an argument can be made that it can be used for good. Someone could
target Jew haters with some sort of educational messages.

"I want to address a message to Jew haters" isn't inherently good or bad; it
doesn't mean I'm a Jew hater.

For that matter, someone who expresses an interest in a topic like "German
Schutzstaffel" by searching for it isn't automatically a neo-nazi.

This article has some of the flavor of blaming a knife factory for stabbings.

I suspect any n-grams can be used; you can probably target people who are
interested in a "pig shit ice cream" or anything completely random.

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js2
Dupe -
[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15252124](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=15252124)

