Illustration by Alex Castro / The Verge
In the latest “keyword targeting gone awry” experiment, the BBC was able to use terms like “neo-Nazi” and “white supremacist” in a Twitter ad campaign, despite the social media platform’s policy that advertisers “may not select keywords that target sensitive categories.”
According to Twitter’s policies, those sensitive categories include genetic or biometric data, health, commission of a crime, sex life, religious affiliation or beliefs, and racial or ethnic origin, among others.
The BBC ran an ad and says it was able to target users who were interested in the words “white supremacist,” “transphobic,” and “anti-gay,” among others. It wasn’t clear whether the news organization was reaching users who were interested in those terms (such…