Class action lawsuit in Canada against Facebook alleging discrimination
Facebook could have to pay several thousand Canadian users of the social network damages. They would not have had access to certain information due to discriminatory criteria.
Meta.
AFP
A Quebec appeals court has upheld a class action lawsuit against Facebook, alleging that the social network discriminates based on age, gender or race in the targeting of its advertising, the plaintiffs’ lawyer told AFP on Wednesday.
The California social media giant may have to pay damages to thousands of Quebecers who have used the platform to search for jobs and housing since 2016 and have hidden ads based on these discriminatory criteria.
“We are pleased with the decision of the Quebec Court of Appeals,” AFP welcomed the plaintiffs’ attorney, Audrey Boctor, referring to “widespread discriminatory practices”. “Algorithmic discrimination that prevents certain groups of people, such as women and older workers, from receiving job advertisements is just a modern form of the same type of discrimination prohibited under the Quebec Charter,” she said in an email.
A class action lawsuit initiated in 2019
The class action lawsuit was initiated in 2019 before being dismissed in the first instance. Contacted by AFP, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, declined to comment on the Quebec Court of Appeal’s decision, but assured that it had taken steps “to promote non-discrimination and equity in (their) advertising systems.”
The group also faced similar lawsuits in the United States. In June, the company agreed to change its ad targeting methods and pay a $115,054 fine to end a US government lawsuit accusing it of promoting racial and sexist discrimination.
AFP
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