When Guardian reporter Olivia Solon was sent a rape threat, she posted a screenshot on Instagram. The ad has surfaced at a time when Facebook is facing intense scrutiny over the ethical failings of its algorithms and advertising tools. Others quickly discovered that there was a range of bigoted and derogatory terms that Facebook allowed for ad targeting and that Google and Twitter had similar problems. It’s unclear why Instagram chose to highlight Solon’s hate mail to friends on Facebook. The company did not answer questions about how widely the post was shared, but said it would have surfaced to some of Solon’s Facebook friends.

Source: The Guardian September 21, 2017 19:37 UTC