The Opening Salvo: Trump Administration Sues Facebook For Fair Housing Act Violations

The Trump Administration has joined a lawsuit filed by the National Fair Housing Alliance against Facebook. The lawsuit alleges that Facebook allows potential landlords to divert housing ads away from potential tenants based on their ZIP Code, religion, race, gender (no word if this was the two biological ones or the 71 Facebook’s SJWs have dreamed up), national origin, and disability. In addition, HUD has filed an administrative complaint against Facebook in regards to the same allegation.

Justice Dept. Backs Suit Accusing Facebook of Violating Fair Housing Act The department suggested Facebook could be held liable if housing providers used the site’s targeting tools to discriminate against prospective renters and buyers in advertising the… https://t.co/5Y6dtNrMZk pic.twitter.com/UlAJO17cda

— NewsOftheworld (@newsworldforev4) August 18, 2018

HUD Lodges Fair Housing Complaint Against Facebook https://t.co/UDxsdWImsA

— AJJCS (@AJJCS) August 18, 2018

The fact that the Administration took this action on Friday can’t be separated from President Trump’s Twitter barrage this morning vowing that conservatives will not be forced off social media platforms.

Social Media is totally discriminating against Republican/Conservative voices. Speaking loudly and clearly for the Trump Administration, we won’t let that happen. They are closing down the opinions of many people on the RIGHT, while at the same time doing nothing to others…….

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

…..Censorship is a very dangerous thing & absolutely impossible to police. If you are weeding out Fake News, there is nothing so Fake as CNN & MSNBC, & yet I do not ask that their sick behavior be removed. I get used to it and watch with a grain of salt, or don’t watch at all..

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

….Too many voices are being destroyed, some good & some bad, and that cannot be allowed to happen. Who is making the choices, because I can already tell you that too many mistakes are being made. Let everybody participate, good & bad, and we will all just have to figure it out!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 18, 2018

Rather than a HUD action, I think this is more properly viewed as a preview of how the Administration plans to handle the systemic punishment of conservative content by the social media platforms.

It is going to be difficult for Facebook to win this case because the advertising tool allowed people placing the ads to block people who liked Telemundo or had mentions of service dogs or mobility scooters or stay-at-home-Mom in their timeline. This is going to hurt Facebook’s brand and it will hurt them financially. It is also going to promote the image of social media platforms who think they are too big and too powerful to have to bother with obeying the law.

Over time, if the administration is diligent at all, they will be able to build a case that Justice can use to bring down the hammer. That probably won’t be necessary. The social media platforms like running their business without constant proctological exams by federal agencies. I suspect they’ll modify their behavior and stop letting the inmates run the asylum.

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