Facebook Removes 'Gay Conversion Therapy' Ads, Responds To Chelsea Clinton

Facebook on Wednesday responded to a comment by Chelsea Clinton regarding ads on the social media platform promoting "gay conversion therapy." In a tweet, the social media giant said it does not allow those ads and have removed all such ads.

The former first daughter tweeted earlier in the same day that “Conversion therapy” was akin to child abuse. She wanted the ads and their "practices" be made illegal everywhere.

On Sunday, The Telegraph reported that Facebook removed some “Conversion therapy” adverts that targeted members of the LGBT community after reports about a flaw with the micro-targeting algorithm employed by the social media giant for choosing audiences for ads.

Facebook came under immense pressure when the issue came to light, especially from people belonging to the LGBT community. According to reports, the platform was targeting young LGBT people with “predatory” advertisements that promised a cure for being gay. Facebook has removed the posts after the backlash.

Facebook's LGBT users complained about the issue when they were confronted with adverts that promoted “sexual purity” and conversion therapy based on the pages they previously showed interest in, specifically speaking, pages that were dedicated to LGBT issues and content.

When the users clicked on the "why am I seeing this ad" button on the advert, Facebook notified them that it was because they were interested in “gender issues.”

Facebook adverts use micro-targeting algorithms so that companies or individuals can direct their adverts to specific audiences who would most likely be interested in their product or service. Micro-targeting is a commercial direct marketing practice by which strategic decisions are made at the individual level in a customer database.

Facebook responded on Wednesday to the issue and said, "We have rejected these ads and they are no longer running on Facebook."

The Telegraph reported that the adverts were pushed to people who were likely to be young and identified as LGBT. A Facebook user Tessa Ann Schwarz came across a video titled "Homosexuality Was My Identity." It aimed at promoting conversion therapy as Schwarz, who identifies as a lesbian, had liked some LGBT pages on the platform.

"I don't know why Facebook has permitted this group to target LGBTQ people who have intentionally sought out community and education amongst peers, for shaming and hatred masked as love," she said, adding that she complained to the company that the video was “really upsetting.”

Alistair Ryder, a gay man, said he was shocked when he came across an advert for a book, which has since been removed, titled "Help for men with same-sex attraction."

"There was nothing overtly homophobic about it, but it was written in a way to try to appeal to people who may be depressed due to their sexuality. It's irresponsible for Facebook to allow an advert that preys on gay men with mental issues in a negative way," he said, the New York Post reported.

The advert for the book, written by an evangelical conversion therapist, was targeted at young people interested in gender issues.

Several charities have accused Facebook of preying on members of vulnerable communities, and asked them to increase regulations on micro-targeting.

"This content is offensive and an insidious attempt to undermine the self-esteem of LGBT people seeing this material,” Paul Twocock, director of campaigns, policy and research at Stonewall told The Sunday Telegraph. “There's evidence of the damage conversion therapy does to people's wellbeing, and the Government are committed to eradicating it in the U.K. We urge Facebook to take swift action."

According to Facebook’s advertising policies which are provided on its website, "Adverts must not engage in predatory advertising practices or contain content that discriminates against, harasses, provokes, or disparages people."