Is It Ageist To Microtarget On Facebook?
Facebook could be the new vanguard of age discrimination.
I could make an argument that posting your job openings only through Facebook is itself a form of age discrimination. Old people don’t look for jobs on Facebook. Old people just dip their toes into your Facebook threads and then run screaming when they get dragged by the mob.
Of course, old people do have the option of seeing a job posted on Facebook, and so posting your job there, exclusively even, doesn’t violate any age discrimination laws.
But what if you use Facebook to target your job posting only towards young people? That’s the subject of a new lawsuit. From the ABA Journal:
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A would-be class action lawsuit claims Amazon, T-Mobile and other major employers are violating federal age-bias law by placing ads on Facebook that are displayed only to younger people.
The federal suit (PDF) was filed Wednesday in San Francisco federal court on behalf of the Communications Workers of America and three recently unemployed workers who use Facebook and other websites to look for jobs.
Facebook launched a job ads section earlier this year that allows advertisers to select audiences based on information collected about its users.
Facebook itself is not a named defendant in the lawsuit, and the company (rightly I think) claims it’s shielded by the Communications Decency Act. I pretty much have Section 230 tattooed on my ass, so I have to agree with its use here.
But otherwise, I think the plaintiffs have a point. Facebook allows you to target your message with frightening efficiency. It’s nothing for Facebook to serve a job ad to only people under a certain age. Facebook doesn’t even have to ask you your age to figure out how old you are.
Like so many things (think: the election), we have to ask ourselves if Facebook’s ability to subvert our laws and protections results in liability for anybody.
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Age-bias suit targets Facebook job ads displayed to younger people [ABA Journal]
Elie Mystal is the Executive Editor of Above the Law and the Legal Editor for More Perfect. He can be reached @ElieNYC on Twitter, or at elie@abovethelaw.com. He will resist.
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