San Francisco (CNN Business) Facebook is facing a proposed class action lawsuit for allegedly denying people financial services products based on age and gender.

A complaint filed Thursday in a federal district court in San Francisco alleges that financial services ads on Facebook were targeted away from women and older people over the past three years. The complaint defines older people as those who are at least 40 years old.

It seeks to bar Facebook and advertisers from excluding older persons and women from receiving ads for financial services such as bank accounts, loans, insurance coverage, and investments.

In a statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: "We're reviewing the complaint. We've made significant changes to how housing, employment and credit opportunities are run on Facebook and continue to work on ways to prevent potential misuse. Our policies have long prohibited discrimination and we're proud of the strides we're making in this area."

Facebook's advertising platform has faced continued scrutiny over whether it enables discrimination by allowing advertisers to target their desired audience using tools that filter based on certain characteristics.

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