One of the organizers,Meredith Whittaker, an artificial intelligence researcher, called speaking out "an ethical imperative," while acknowledging that "when you do labor organizing, you are in an adversarial relationship with the people who control your livelihood."

"I've looked at the huge impact that advertising has over women and girls' self image and the way their identities are formed, and so to see that women don't have a voice is such an influential conversation made me want to be proactive in that area," says Lauren Greenfield, the director of the ad and founder of Girl Culture Films.

Forcing workers into arbitration over workplace misconduct and other claims is an employment practice that's been gaining more attention in the Me Too era. The agreements, which are often signed as a condition of employment, make it so an employee can't sue the company or participate in class action lawsuits against it.

The newly announced executives in charge of Facebook's core mobile app, Messenger and WhatsApp, are all male. So are the leaders of Facebook's advertising platform, augmented and virtual reality division and its new blockchain unit. These staffers report up to three executives: Facebook's CTO, CPO and VP of Growth -- roles all occupied by men. They report to CEO Mark Zuckerberg. The lackluster diversity at the top is particularly important for a company whose products are used by more than two billion people around the world. It could pose significant challenges when it comes to anticipating the ways in which a product is being used or exploited for various communities.