The civil charges filed by the Department of Housing and Urban Development could cost the social network millions of dollars in penalties. HUD spokesman Brian Sullivan said the agency has reached out to Google and Twitter to "better understand their advertising practices." HUD said Facebook is allowing advertisers to practice a sort of high-tech form of red-lining by excluding people in entire neighborhoods or ZIP codes from seeing their ads. The case will be heard by an administration law judge unless HUD or Facebook decides to move it to federal court. Facebook is already under fire for allowing fake Russian accounts to buy ads targeting U.S. users and sow political discord during the 2016 presidential election.

Source: ABC News March 28, 2019 12:43 UTC