Study: Facebook targets young people with gambling and “sin” products

Meta, the parent company behind Facebook and Instagram, could be using algorithms to push unhealthy, sinful and harmful content on target groups that are particularly susceptible to such influences, a new study conducted by the University of Queensland and Monash University contends.

The study was carried out with the help of researchers from the university and VicHealth, a health promotion foundation based in MelbourneAustralia, and the first such foundation to be funded by taxing the tobacco industry.

The researchers have established that Facebook and Instagram ads seem to target individuals in the age groups of 16-25, but often end up being seen by younger individuals as well.

This, the study argues, indicates that the platforms are purposefully using targeted marketing of unhealthy products, many of which such as alcohol and gambling, have to do with the "sin industry."

Commenting on the findings in an official press release, Nicholas Carah, Associate Professor and Director of Digital Cultures & Societies at the University of Queensland, explained that the data used in the study was downloaded from the Facebook accounts of a group called Citizen Scientists.

Carah noted that the feeds of young people were more likely to display gambling, alcohol and unhealthy food advertisements, and such promotional materials appeared to even younger individuals who were not 18. The study was able to dig deeper into the numbers and saw that 93% of alcohol ads, for example, appeared on the feeds of children aged 16-17.

Carah explained that there was "a significant association between alcohol-related keywords and alcohol use." The study looked closer at individual age groups’ feeds. Thus, it was able to establish that individuals aged 17 were exposed to 493 unhealthy food ads and 49 gambling ads, along with 85 alcohol ads.

The study examined data provided by 83 young peopleaged 16-25 including 54 children aged 16-17. Each has been assigned an average of 787 advertising interests by a total of 194 advertisers. Among the age groups 16-25, 21% of the targeted people were assigned gambling advertisements.

The age group 16-17 confirmed that they had reported seeing gambling ads regularly or sometimes. The study’s findings have had a strong reverberation in Australian society, with FARE CEO Caterina Giorgi urging the government to act and implement tighter controls over how advertisers push their products and whom they target.

Alliance for Gambling Reform CEO Carol Bennett has said that young people must be protected from predatory advertisement practices that use social media to target vulnerable community members.

"Gambling companies want to get Australians hooked on gambling as young as possible and this research exposes their shameless efforts to target our young, including children," Bennett stated tersely, and added that these companies should not be allowed to target young people.

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