Netherlands: Institute for Human Rights found Meta guilty of gender-based discrimination on jobs ads

On 18 February 2025, the Netherlands Institute for Human Rights issued a ruling in response to a petition filed by Global Witness and Bureau Clara Wichmann against Meta Platforms (formerly Facebook). The Institute found that Meta had engaged in prohibited indirect gender-based discrimination in the display of job advertisements on Facebook in the Netherlands. The ruling, based on Dutch equal treatment legislation and EU non-discrimination principles, determined that Meta Ireland, as a service provider, is obliged to prevent discrimination in job ad distribution. Research by Global Witness demonstrated that Meta’s advertising algorithm reinforced gender-based stereotypes by disproportionately displaying certain job vacancies to men or women. The Institute held that Meta Ireland failed to refute this presumption of discrimination and had not fulfilled its duty of care to monitor, investigate, and mitigate algorithmic bias. As a result, Meta Ireland is required to implement corrective measures to ensure fairer job ad distribution.