Meta Platforms—Meta's job ad algorithms systematically discriminated by age and gender
From 2017-2025, Meta/Facebook's advertising algorithms discriminated against older workers and women in job ad delivery. ProPublica/NYT 2017 investigation found dozens of employers ran recruitment ads limited to specific age groups. EEOC ruled in September 2019 that four companies violated federal law by excluding women and older workers from job ads. Meta settled in March 2019 for $5 million with ACLU/CWA, agreeing to eliminate age/gender targeting in employment ads. However, December 2022 EEOC charge by Real Women in Trucking (joined by AARP Foundation in 2023) alleged Meta's ad-delivery algorithm continued discriminating, with ads delivered to 99% male or 99% under-55 audiences despite advertisers targeting all ages/genders. Case remains pending with EEOC as of 2025.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Age Inclusion | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Algorithmic Fairness | -against | secondary | -0.50 |
| Gender Equity | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.369 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.59)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Facebook settled civil rights cases for $5 million over discriminatory job ads
On March 18-19, 2019, Facebook reached a historic settlement with ACLU, Communications Workers of America, and other civil rights groups, paying nearly $5 million (with $3 million to CWA) to settle lawsuits filed between November 2016 and September 2018. Facebook agreed that advertisers can no longer exclude users from job, housing, or credit opportunities based on gender, age, or other protected characteristics. Facebook created a separate platform section for these ads where companies are prohibited from targeting by age, race, gender, or any legally protected characteristic, with a three-year monitoring period.