Despite 'transparency' claims, Facebook stops watchdogs from monitoring ads

Facebook appears to be talking out of both sides of its mouth again.

On Monday, the nonprofit news organization ProPublica published a report stating that Facebook had intentionally disabled its ability to monitor political advertising on the platform — which doesn't exactly sound like the transparency Mark Zuckerberg promised. 

ProPublica uses a plugin that allows it to see which ads a consenting user sees on Facebook. It also tells the organization how those users were targeted. For example, if you're someone who told Facebook that you are "liberal," you might see ads for liberal causes. But this sort of targeting can also get much, much more granular. Cambridge Analytica targeted people with political ads based on their denim preferences. Read more...