Class action lawsuit in Quebec against Facebook, accused of discriminatory ad targeting

The Quebec Court of Appeals has approved a class-action lawsuit against Facebook, accusing the social network of discrimination based on age, gender or origin in its ad targeting, a lawyer for the plaintiffs told AFP Wednesday.

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The California social media giant may have to pay compensation to the thousands of Quebecers who have used the platform since 2016 to search for jobs and housing, and ads could have been hidden because of these discriminatory standards.

“We are pleased with the ruling by the Quebec Court of Appeals,” attorney for the plaintiffs, Audrey Boctor, told AFP, citing “widespread discriminatory practices”.

“Algorithmic discrimination that prevents certain groups of people, such as women and older workers, from receiving job ads is just a modern form of the same type of discrimination that is prohibited under the Quebec Charter,” she said in an email.

The class action lawsuit began in 2019 before it was dismissed by a lower court.

When contacted by AFP, Meta, Facebook’s parent company, did not want to comment on the Quebec Court of Appeals decision, but confirmed that it had taken measures to “promote non-discrimination and fairness in its advertising (systems)”.

The group has also faced similar lawsuits in the United States. In June, the company agreed to change its ad-targeting methods and pay $115,054 in fines to end a lawsuit from the US government, which accused it of facilitating racial and gender discrimination.