The Harris County Clerk's Office agreed to remove election advertisements that used race-based targeting, according to a settlement with the Office of the Texas Attorney General. The agreement also bars the office from reactivating discriminatory targeting settings during the applicable election period.
The office had paid to target its "Get Out the Vote" advertisements toward certain racial and ethnic groups while excluding others, using Meta's advertising tools. The Office of the Attorney General discovered the practice and filed a lawsuit against the Harris County Clerk and the office's Director of Communications.
Attorney General Ken Paxton, a candidate on the November ballot, recused himself from the lawsuit. The state of Texas pursued the case through the Office of the Attorney General.