The NGO Global Witness ran a test in March 2022 creating five neutrally formulated job offers, for as many professions: secretary, airline pilot, childcare assistant, psychologist, manager of an IT structure.
Women secretaries and men pilots
For the broadcast, Global Witness left it up to Facebook’s algorithms to select the target audience for these ads. However, the “Early childhood” ad was 94% directed at women, 92% of “Secretary” and 80% of “Psychologist”, indicates the Fundación Mujer in a joint press release with the other two organizations.
On the other hand, “the call for airline pilot was offered to 85% of men and that of IT structure manager to 68% of men,” he continues. “In almost every case, the ads we’ve run have been single-genre, making it clear that the algorithms at the heart of the platform’s business model are deeply problematic,” says Naomi Hirst, director of Global Witness, quoted in the press. release.
“Gender bias of automated systems”
The repeated test in April 2023 yielded the same results, Floriane Volt of the Women’s Foundation told AFP. The results of the tests show the “sexist biases of Facebook’s automated systems in the selection of audiences,” denounces the association. They “place the bona fide recruiter in a position of illegality” by not allowing “equal access to employment for men and women.”
“Sexist stereotypes are perpetuated”: women in personal care jobs, men in positions of responsibility. In fact, they exclude women “from higher-paying job opportunities,” according to the press release.
However, according to the three associations, hiring on social networks is a “common practice” for both SMEs and job seekers. The three associations also arrested the Cnil for “potential non-compliance with the General Data Protection Regulation (RGPD)” and the LOPD for considering that the data processing by the algorithms is “opaque and illegal” and “generates discrimination by of sex”.
Source: BFM TV
