This project has been funded with support from the European Commission. The author is solely responsible for this publication (communication) and the Commission accepts no responsibility for any use may be made of the information contained therein. In compliance of the new GDPR framework, please note that the Partnership will only process your personal data in the sole interest and purpose of the project and without any prejudice to your rights.

Case Study 7 - Gender bias in ads on prominent social media site.

Global Witness initiated some paid ads across Facebook in the following countries: UK, the Netherlands, France, India, Ireland, and South Africa. The ads focused on real job vacancies from various fields including pilots, hairdressers and psychologists. The results of who the ads were targeted at through the social media sites algorithm showed a clear gender bias relating to the job vacancy with 91% of individuals being shown the advert for the mechanic vacancy being male and 79% of individuals shown an advert for a preschool teacher being female.

Upon further research in The Netherlands and France in collaboration with a feminist organisation, it was shown that 97% of individuals shown an advert for a receptionist vacancy were female.

Read More

menu