Facebook admits 'fail' over racist abuse of its online ad tools

New York

RESPONDING to evidence that its tools had allowed ads to be directed at users who used racist comments or hate speech in their profiles, Facebook said on Wednesday that it would change how ads can be targeted.

That its ad-targeting tools could be used in such a way was "a fail" for the company, Sheryl Sandberg, Facebook's chief operating officer, said in a post. She added that Facebook would add "more human review and oversight" to its automated systems to prevent further misuse.