Facebook to target ‘dark ads’ ahead of abortion vote
Facebook is set to launch transparency tools in the Republic of Ireland targeting “dark ads” ahead of the abortion referendum.
The move will see Ireland become only the second country after Canada to enjoy the reforms which will allow users to see all the adverts that advertisers are running on Facebook at the same time.
Dark ads allow for micro-targeting – where specific ads are served to specific users.
Irish users will be unable to see who has paid for certain adverts at this stage.
Facebook is bidding to win back trust after the scandal around Cambridge Analytica and the use of personal data of account holders, and whether the social media platform was used to sway Brexit and the US presidential election.
While Ireland will be added to the pilot programme from 25 April, the tech giant’s transparency tools are expected to be rolled out globally in June.
Joel Kaplan, Facebook’s vice-president for global policy, said: “We are working hard to build out these transparency tools and roll them out globally, but it takes time to do this.
“We made the decision only in recent days to accelerate and include Ireland in the pilot programme.”
Irish voters will decide whether or not they want to change the country’s strict abortion laws in May.