Oscar nominations announced on Thursday have immediately sparked controversy among critics and Internet users regarding the lack of diversity, with #OscarsSoWhite going viral in social media.

MOSCOW, January 16 (Sputnik), Ekaterina Blinova — The Oscar award nominations, announced on Thursday in Los Angeles, have been met with heavy criticism from Internet users, blasting the jury for the lack of diversity among nominations for actors and directors.

After this "diverse" list of nominees I KNEW Black Twitter wouldn't let me down — #OscarsSoWhite… pic.twitter.com/rAI3G9eOw9 — #YearofResistance (@LeslieMac) January 15, 2015

"With a mix of humor and disdain, commentary focused largely on the lack of diversity among nominations for actors and directors, and the focus on films that primarily concentrate on the experiences of white people," the Wall Street Journal reported.

#OscarsSoWhite There was more diversity at the 1936 Berlin Olympics pic.twitter.com/tkl4CeL31g — Richard Hine (@richardhine) January 16, 2015

Rather unexpectedly, "Selma," while heralded by cinema critics, was not nominated for the Best Director category, although Ava DuVernay's movie had earlier received a Golden Globe nomination. The biopic narrates the story of Martin Luther King's campaign for equal voting rights, in particular his epic march from Selma to Montgomery in 1965. David Oyelowo, the African-American actor playing the role of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was "shut out" from the list of nominees as well, although the highly praised film was nominated in the Best Picture and the Best Song categories.

How does it make sense to have Selma as a best Pic nomination but not director @AVAETC who made it the BEST pic? #OscarsSoWhite — DanielleMoodie-Mills (@DeeTwoCents) January 15, 2015

CNN points out that while other directing nominees were not berated for inaccuracies in their movies, "Selma" faced fierce criticism for its portrayal of President Lyndon B. Johnson.

"Ms. DuVernay, more than her peers, arguably needed that Oscar validation as a bargaining chip. I'm angry because one of the best films of the year has been libeled and that said libel apparently worked," stressed Forbes' Scott Mendelson, as cited by CNN.

The Daily Mirror notes that not much has changed in the 88 years of Academy Award history in terms of the ceremony's attitude to race: "Out of all the actor nominations ever (there have been 127), 118 have been for white actors. Only nine have been non-white. Three out of the six non-white women who have won an Oscar were cast as maids or slaves," the media outlet observed.

What colour do I have to be to get an Oscar? #OscarsSoWhite http://t.co/6YOpR5tQXN pic.twitter.com/OjpVdKnQqe — Daily Mirror (@DailyMirror) January 16, 2015

The #OscarsSoWhite hashtag went viral shortly after the nominations were announced. Twitter users are still enthusiastically discussing the lack of diversity among the Oscar nominations.

#OscarsSoWhite they couldn't see race in this photo but they felt this hashtag was too "divisive" pic.twitter.com/0UzzhuT6PA — JollyBlackGiant (@CandyCornball) January 15, 2015