Department of Justice announces lawsuit against Facebook

The Department of Justice filed a lawsuit Thursday against social media behemoth Facebook for allegedly discriminating against U.S. workers.

The DOJ released a statement about the lawsuit detailing the charges against the company, which they claimed had favored foreign workers in order to avoid paying higher wages to U.S. workers.

"The Department of Justice's lawsuit alleges that Facebook engaged in intentional and widespread violations of the law, by setting aside positions for temporary visa holders instead of considering interested and qualified U.S. workers," said Assistant Attorney General Eric S. Dreiband of the DOJ's Civil Rights Division.

The DOJ said the lawsuit was the result of a two-year investigation into hiring practices at the company.

The lawsuit alleges that Facebook violated Department of Labor regulations that requires companies to seek qualified and available U.S. workers before hiring foreign workers through temporary visa applications.

"Our message to all employers — including those in the technology sector — is clear," continued Dreiband, "you cannot illegally prefer to recruit, consider, or hire temporary visa holders over U.S. workers."

The DOJ is seeking back pay for the U.S. workers what were denied employment as well as civil penalties.

Many critics on the right have accused Facebook and other social media companies of being biased in favor of liberal political causes and have called on the administration to take whatever steps they can to curb the ideological censorship.

President Donald Trump amplified the accusations from his Twitter account before the election.

"Facebook, Google and Twitter, not to mention the Corrupt Media, are sooo on the side of the Radical Left Democrats. But fear not, we will win anyway, just like we did before!" he tweeted in 2019.

Facebook released a brief email statement to ABC News about the lawsuit.

"Facebook has been cooperating with the DOJ in its review of this issue and while we dispute the allegations in the complaint, we cannot comment further on pending litigation," the statement read.

Here's more about the lawsuit against Facebook:

DOJ is filing a lawsuit against Facebook for discriminating against U.S. workerswww.youtube.com