A Quebec Court of Appeal has approved a class action lawsuit against Facebook, we learned on Wednesday.
The plaintiffs accuse the social network of discrimination on age, gender or origin in its advertising targeting.
Facebook could have to pay damages to thousands of Quebecers, who have used its platform since 2016 to look for jobs and housing.
The latter would have been hidden from advertisements because of these discriminatory criteria.
"We are happy with [this] judgment," said the plaintiffs' lawyer, referring to "widespread discriminatory practices".
Corrective measures already taken, according to Meta
“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 that is prohibited under the Quebec Charter” , added the lawyer.
The class action was launched in 2019 before being dismissed by a court of first instance.
Meta, Facebook's parent company, declined to comment on the court ruling but said it had taken steps "to promote non-discrimination and fairness in [its] advertising systems."
In June, the group has already paid more than 115,000 dollars in fines in the United States to put an end to a government lawsuit which accused it of facilitating sexist and racist discrimination.
Justice
Cambridge Analytica scandal: Facebook finally agrees to pay $725 million
high tech
Twitter: Why Elon Musk's massive layoffs are worrying the European Union
Facebook
Meta
World
Discrimination
Quebec
high tech
Social networks