Facebook accused to targeting 'insecure' kids

Facebook has reportedly been accused of allowing advertisers to target emotionally vulnerable youngsters.

A 23-page leaked document obtained by The Australian revealed that Facebook executives, through the use of algorithms, collected data on the emotional state of 6.4 million “high schoolers, tertiary students and young Australians and New Zealanders in the workforce,” to understand their mental states.

However, a Facebook spokesperson told Mashable that the document’s insights were never used to target ads.

“Facebook does not offer tools to target people based on their emotional state. The analysis done by an Australian researcher was intended to help marketers understand how people express themselves on Facebook,” the spokesperson said.

“Facebook has an established process to review the research we perform. This research did not follow that process and we are reviewing the details to correct the oversight,” the spokesperson added.

Furthermore, it appears like Facebook’s “Confidential: Internal Only” real-time monitoring of kids’ emotions have breached the Australian Code for Advertising & Marketing Communications to Children. If the latter were to be kept in mind, Facebook’s activities (in subject) is violating the ethical standards of the Code.