Many job offers on Facebook illegally exclude women, according to the ACLU

According to a lawsuit filed on Tuesday, Facebook's advertising platform is being used by potential employers to discriminate against women.

The American Civil Liberties Union, joined by a union and a law firm specializing in employee representation, lodged a complaint against Facebook with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the federal agency responsible for enforcing anti-corruption laws. discrimination in the workplace.

The prosecution is asking for an investigation of the company's social media and an injunction against what he calls discriminatory practices in a company with a significant influence on the US labor market. She also claims that Facebook's system violates the anti-discrimination provisions of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

BREAK: We have laid charges against @Facebook and 10 employers who used the platform to target their job offers – for positions in predominantly male-dominated fields – only for younger men.

Facebook is violating the federal law on civil rights. Period.

– ACLU (@ACLU) September 18, 2018

For years, the social network has been the subject of persistent criticism that it is failing to stop discriminatory advertisements of all kinds, ranging from ads of homes excluding certain races to job offers targeting only young workers. In August, Facebook said it would remove 5,000 targeted advertising options from its platform to prevent discrimination.

According to a statement from the ACLU, the Communications Workers of America and the Outten & Golden law firm, millions of women have been denied the opportunity to view employer job postings on Facebook.

The charge to the EEOC on Tuesday alleges that sex discrimination is still designed in Facebook's self-service system, as it automatically asks a person to create a new ad if they want to target a specific gender.

"Facebook makes this discrimination workable through a quick and easy process," the prosecution says.

"Any employer, placement agency, company or individual with a Facebook page can create and buy a paid ad that will be sent to other Facebook users within minutes of receiving the payment of the ad by Facebook.

Facebook said it is ready to defend its policies and practices.

"There is no room for discrimination on Facebook, it's strictly forbidden in our policies," said Joe Osborne, a spokesman for Facebook, in a statement.

Facebook is the world's second largest player in online advertising, thanks to the financial success of ads running in Facebook's news feed, on Instagram and in other parts of its network.

Millions of businesses place advertisements on Facebook every month for jobs or for other reasons, and although Facebook prohibits advertisers from publishing discriminatory or illegal articles, the social network has a hard time controlling the ads. advertisers profits.

Last month, Facebook forced advertisers to click a button certifying that their ads are not discriminatory. He also tried to limit some types of advertising targeting.

Organizations also filed EEOC discrimination charges against 10 employers who advertised on Facebook and who, according to the filings, used gender targeting to limit female applications.

Employers include companies involved in moving services, roofing, auto repair, window replacement, retail and installation of security systems.

If not for the specific advertising targeting of Facebook, the charge against Facebook indicates that women "would have clicked on these job ads to learn more about these opportunities and pursue them."

Like other Internet companies, Facebook enjoys some immunity for unlawful content published on its services under a 1996 law known as the Communications Decency Act.

The prosecution at the EEOC alleges that immunity should not apply, claiming that Facebook is not just an "intermediary" selling ads, but that Facebook provides " almost all the necessary functions of an agency and a marketing company ".