Facebook’s algorithm targets people for job listings based on their gender identity, new research has found.
The study revealed that Facebook ads for jobs in fields dominated by men were visible to men. Similarly, vacancies for jobs in fields that employ more women were more frequently visible to women. The bias operates across a broad spectrum of job listings — from both low-paying jobs to high-paying ones. In one example from the study, Facebook was more likely to show a woman an ad for a technical job at Netflix, which has a significant number of women employees, than an ad for a job at a graphics-chip maker, where fewer women are employed.