Social network Facebook accused of gender discrimination

According to a study, Facebook ads recruiting for IT positions were shown to men, while secretarial positions were almost exclusively shown to women.

A study by three organizations in six countries, including France, accuses Facebook's algorithm of showing different recruitment ads to users depending on their gender.

Specifically, job advertisements for IT positions were shown primarily to men, while secretarial positions were shown almost exclusively to women.

This result was recorded in a trial conducted in France, UK, Netherlands, Ireland, India and South Africa in the period 2021-2023, carried out by three organizations: Global Witness, Fondation des Femmes and Femmes Ingénieures.

In France, job postings for childcare workers, secretaries and psychologists are predominantly directed to women (94%), while ads for pilots or IT infrastructure managers are predominantly directed to men (85%).

According to the French agency for the protection of citizens' rights, Défenseure des droits, this is “indirect discrimination related to gender."

In a statement on November 4, Global Witness stressed that this could be “the first time a European regulator has identified a social network's algorithm as discriminating based on gender, marking an important step forward."

The Defénseure des droits asked Meta to “take all necessary measures to ensure that there is no gender discrimination in the dissemination of recruitment advertisements” within three months, but the decision is not binding but only a recommendation.

The agency also said that Facebook in France has not yet responded, while Meta Ireland - the group's headquarters in Europe - said that the Defénseure des droits "does not have the authority to review this case at the territorial level"./.

(TTXVN/Vietnam+)

Source: https://www.vietnamplus.vn/mang-xa-hoi-facebook-bi-cao-buoc-phan-biet-doi-xu-theo-gioi-tinh-post1075480.vnp