Facebook says it’s taking steps to prevent advertisers from discriminating against Canadians in ads for jobs, housing and credit services based on factors like gender, age or where they live.
This comes amid a Facebook Canada ad discrimination class action lawsuit that is currently pending in Montreal. In that case, plaintiff Lyse Beaulieu says she used Facebook to look for jobs, but allegedly did not see some available jobs because of her age.
“Housing, employment and credit ads are crucial to helping people buy new homes, start great careers, and gain access to credit,” a spokesperson for Facebook Canada said. “They should never be used to exclude or harm people. Getting this right is deeply important to me and all of us at Facebook because inclusivity is a core value for our company.”
According to Facebook Canada, all advertisements for job, housing and credit will be placed in a special library that will make it easier for everyone to view the advertisements.
Facebook’s announcement comes about nine months after CBC News found that the social networking giant was allowing employers to post ads that microtargeted potential employees within specific age ranges.
These microtargeted advertisements on Facebook allegedly included settings that may prevent older workers from seeing an ad for a job for which they might qualify.
In Canada, employers cannot put restrictions on who sees a job posting based on factors like age, race, gender or religion, unless the restriction is an occupational requirement or if it’s part of a specific initiative.
Facebook’s non-discrimination policy states that “ads must not discriminate or encourage discrimination against people based on personal attributes such as race, ethnicity, color, national origin, religion, age, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity, family status, disability, medical or genetic condition.” However, last year CBC News found that some job ads were posted with settings that exclude some Canadian workers.
According to CBC Canada, about 60 percent of the more than 260 job ads they reviewed were targeted at prospective workers in particular age ranges in a way that could violate the law unless the employer could show the restriction was necessary.
Civil liberties groups subsequently filed lawsuits against Facebook over its practice of allowing discriminatory postings.
The Canadian Human Rights Commission and the Ontario Human Rights Commission subsequently sent a joint letter to Facebook urging it to bar companies from using discriminatory advertising on the platform.
“We will be monitoring the implementation of these changes closely,” the Canadian Human Rights Commission said in a statement. “We recognize Facebook for taking steps to eliminate discrimination and support an inclusive society.”
Last year, Facebook announced that it would prohibit U.S. employers from excluding prospective employees from seeing job postings based on factors like age or gender, as part of settlements with civil liberties groups. According to Facebook’s most recent announcement, similar changes will be implemented in Canada by the end of 2020.
Are you a Facebook user? Do you believe you have experienced discrimination by being excluded from seeing certain Facebook ads? Tell us in the comments below.
Beaulieu is represented by Audrey Boctor, Jean-Michel Boudreau, and Olga Redko of IMK LLP.
The Facebook Canada Ad Discrimination Class Action Lawsuit is Lyse Beaulieu v. Facebook Inc., et al., Case No. 500-06-000993-192, in the Superior Court for the Province of Québec, District of Montréal, Canada.
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13 thoughts onFacebook Monitoring AD Discrimination in Wake of Canada Class Action
Add me plz
Add me please.
Add me please I have had discrimination because of my age or something from Facebook or my credit rating
I’m curious if anyone has considered starting a lawsuit facebook for not monitoring the legitimacy of web stores posting ads to sell items on the marketplace in the facebook website ? I live in canada and never before ordered items online other than from wish but when the covid-19 pandemic started I started ordering things online and came across a lot of web stores offering amazing deals for highly sought after products at a fraction of the price normally charged for these items. Because of web stores like wish and alibabah ect.. and because they were advertising on Facebook I assumed they were legitimate and never questioned myself when ordering not once but multiple times (4-5x) from more than one website. All I thought was if I don’t purchase the items I paid for now Christmas could be very depressing and gift less come December so I went ahead trusting that facebook looked out for its users and wouldn’t allow fraudulent ads to be placed causing its users to be taken for money especially during a national pandemic when money itself was becoming harder to come by. I was WRONG. I made multiple purchases to websites spending 100 of dollars with absolutely no protection from being scammed and nobody being held accountable since I’ve tried asking my bank to do chargebacks with help for some of my purchases but not nothing from two that I made larger purchases from . I’m at a loss now because the money could have been used on food and other items that became harder to find and have nothing to show for the money spent . I’ve found that the one website had multiple store all using the same platform with similar items and pricing and one email contact that no matter what the contact email said it was once copied and pasted to email support the same name and email appeared in the address section of my emails..with no response afterwards and it becoming harder to find the sites I’d ordered from my heart dropped.it was As though the shut down the sites as if they never existed and or renamed the website using another website name one being focal planet and so far I’ve found 4 or 6 others all leading to the same email and when trying to login I’m told I’ve got the wrong email or password so I try to set up a new account being told an account linked to that email already exists so I tried forgot password and it said there was no account linked to that email and support emails were never replied to what should I do?
Pls add me
Please add me
Christine Letby
Ajouter moi
Add me
I’ve been discriminated against due to this. I know is a fact. Please add me to your lawsuit
Add me please