In the reckoning of the Black Lives Matter movement in summer 2020, a video that featured black men in altercation with the police and white civilians was posted by the Daily Mail, a British tabloid. In the New York Times, Ryan Mac reports how Facebook users who watched that video, saw an automated prompt that asked if they would like to “keep seeing videos about Primates,” despite there being no relatedness to primates or monkeys.
Continue reading “Racist Technology in Action: Facebook labels black men as ‘primates’”Hera Hussain: ‘Decolonising digital rights’
For as long as I can remember, I’ve felt the duty of being that woman who sits in a meeting room in London, Geneva, New York, Berlin and Paris and talks about what digital rights mean for not just people of colour in Europe and North America, but across the rest of the world. Approximately 84% of the world’s poor live in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa, and the digital divide remains steep but that’s only part of the story. These aren’t passive consumers of the web. They’re active prosumers. TikTok has been downloaded over 360 million times in South East Asia, a region of 658 million people. With social platforms, anyone with a phone can become a star, make money, connect with others, build a family of choice and acceptance, fall in love, and live a life they may not be allowed otherwise.
By Hera Hussain for Who Writes The Rules on August 23, 2021
Big Tech is propped up by a globally exploited workforce
Behind the promise of automation, advances of machine learning and AI, often paraded by tech companies like Amazon, Google, Facebook and Tesla, lies a deeply exploitative industry of cheap, human labour. In an excerpt published on Rest of the World from his forthcoming book, “Work Without the Worker: Labour in the Age of Platform Capitalism,” Phil Jones illustrates how the hidden labour of automation is outsourced to marginalised, racialised and disenfranchised populations within the Global North, as well as in the Global South.
Continue reading “Big Tech is propped up by a globally exploited workforce”We leven helaas nog steeds in een wereld waarin huidskleur een probleem is
Papa, mag ik die huidskleur?’ Verbaasd keek ik op van de kleurplaat die ik aan het inkleuren was, om mijn dochter te zien wijzen naar een stift met een perzikachtige kleur. Of misschien had die meer de kleur van een abrikoos. Afijn, de stift had in ieder geval niet háár huidskleur. Mijn dochter mag dan wel twee tinten lichter van kleur zijn dan ik, toch is zij overduidelijk bruin.
By Ilyaz Nasrulla for Trouw on September 23, 2021
Facebook Apologizes After A.I. Puts ‘Primates’ Label on Video of Black Men
Facebook called it “an unacceptable error.” The company has struggled with other issues related to race.
By Ryan Mac for The New York Times on September 3, 2021
A ‘safe space for racists’: antisemitism report criticises social media giants
Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok failing to act on most reported anti-Jewish posts, says study.
By Maya Wolfe-Robinson for The Guardian on August 1, 2021
Tech companies poured 3.8 billion USD into racial justice, but to what avail?
The Plug and Fast Company looked at what happened to the 3.8 billion dollars that US-based tech companies committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion as their response to the Black Lives Matter protests.
Continue reading “Tech companies poured 3.8 billion USD into racial justice, but to what avail?”‘I don’t think you can have an anti-racist tech company at scale’
Surveillance expert Chris Gilliard reflects on 2020’s racial justice protests, the hypocrisy of tech companies’ commitments, and where we are one year later.
By Chris Gilliard and Katharine Schwab for Fast Company on June 16, 2021
Facebook accused of ‘discriminatory and racist’ behaviour after removing historical PNG images
Group publishing archival photos claims images showing traditional dress or ceremonies were deleted for allegedly containing nudity.
By Mostafa Rachwani for The Guardian on May 27, 2021
Can Outside Pressure Change Silicon Valley?
How has activism evolved in our digital society? In this episode of Sudhir Breaks the Internet, Sudhir talks to Jade Magnus Ogunnaike about the intersection of big tech and civil rights. She is a senior campaign director for Color of Change. It’s a racial justice organization that blends traditional organizing efforts with an updated playbook for how to make change.
By Jade Magnus Ogunnaike and Sudhir Venkatesh for Freakonomics on May 17, 2021
Facebook Oversight Board: Case decision 2021-002-FB-UA
The Oversight Board has upheld Facebook’s decision to remove specific content that violated the express prohibition on posting caricatures of Black people in the form of blackface, contained in its Hate Speech Community Standard.
From Oversight Board on April 13, 2021
Toezichtsraad: Zwarte Piet is raciaal stereotype en wordt terecht geweerd van Facebook en Instagram
Het weren van beelden van Zwarte Piet past in het beleid van Facebook om racistische blackface-stereotypen op zijn platforms tegen te gaan. Dat oordeelt een externe raad bij wie gebruikers en Facebook zelf kunnen toetsen of iets terecht wordt verwijderd of niet.
By Pieter Sabel for Volkskrant on April 13, 2021
Official Information About COVID-19 Is Reaching Fewer Black People on Facebook
According to data from The Markup’s Citizen Browser project, there are major disparities in who is shown public health information about the pandemic.
By Corin Faife and Dara Kerr for The Markup on March 4, 2021
“Color-blindness” is a bad approach to solving bias in algorithms
The human-centered approach that can combat algorithmic bias.
By Jessie Daniels for Quartz on April 3, 2019
Facebook is banning leftwing users like me – and it’s going largely unnoticed
Facebook placed a number of leftwing organizers on a restricted list during Biden’s inauguration. It’s part of a much bigger problem.
By Akin Olla for The Guardian on January 29, 2021
Why Twitter is (Epistemically) Better Than Facebook
Philosopher Dr. Natalie Ashton delves into the epistemic pitfalls of Facebook and the epistemic merits of Twitter.
By Natalie Ashton for Logically on November 26, 2020
Why Facebook Can’t Fix Itself
The platform is overrun with hate speech and disinformation. Does it actually want to solve the problem?
By Andrew Marantz for The New Yorker on October 12, 2020
Why we’re the French fries in Facebook’s fast food restaurant
Lilian Stolk interviews internet policy consultant Joe McNamee on Facebook’s content moderation
By Lilian Stolk for The Hmm on November 16, 2020
Instagram row over plus-size model forces change to nudity policy
Facebook amends code after deletion of black users’ photos sparks outrage.
By Nosheen Iqbal for The Guardian on October 25, 2020
Facebook —het grootste land ter wereld— is gemaakt om te profileren (ook etnisch)
Typhoon werd als zwarte rapper in een mooie auto aangehouden. Sindsdien is de discussie over etnisch profileren terecht losgebarsten. Er is daarbij zelden aandacht voor het feit dat de businessmodellen van diensten uit Silicon Valley grotendeels zijn gebaseerd op profilering, en dat etnisch profileren daarbij als innovatief marketinginstrument wordt aangeprezen.
By Hans de Zwart for Bits of Freedom on June 23, 2016
Hoe Zwarte Piet verdwijnt van Facebook
Moderatie: Het Facebookbeleid tegen Zwarte Piet begint behoorlijk op stoom te komen. Pro-pietenpagina’s worden hard geraakt, omdat tegenstander de berichten op deze pagina’s volop rapporteren. Toch is het de vraag of Zwarte Piet ooit helemaal van Facebook verdwijnt.
By Reinier Kist and Wilfred Takken for NRC on August 31, 2020
Does Facebook Still Sell Discriminatory Ads?
We found discriminatory ads can still appear, despite Facebook’s efforts.
By Jeremy B. Merrill for The Markup on August 25, 2020
Simplifying Targeting Categories
Over the past few years, we’ve routinely reviewed and refined our targeting options to make it easier for advertisers to find and use targeting that will deliver the most value for businesses and people. Today, we’re sharing an update on our ongoing review and streamlining the options we provide by removing options that are not widely used by advertisers.
From Facebook on August 11, 2020
Facebook weigert advertentie met cover van OPZIJ met zwarte vrouw
Facebook heeft een advertentie met cover van het feministische maandblad OPZIJ offline gehaald omdat deze overeenkomsten zou vertonen met een blackface-afbeelding. Op de cover van het tijdschrift prijkt de beeltenis van Dr. Abbie Vandivere. De wetenschapper haalde de wereldpers met haar ontdekkingen tijdens de restauratie van Vermeer’s Meisje met de parel voor het Mauritshuis. Vandivere is zwart en heeft op de foto haar lippen rood geverfd.
By Mark Koster for Villamedia on August 17, 2020
What a damning civil rights audit missed about Facebook
In ignoring Facebook’s size, it gave the company a free pass to continue operating mostly as is. But the real audit may come later this month in Congress.
By Casey Newton and Zoe Schiffer for The Verge on July 10, 2020
Facebook will study whether its algorithms are racially biased
Facebook is forming new internal teams dedicated to studying its main social network and Instagram for racial bias, in particular for whether its algorithms trained using artificial intelligence adversely affect Black, Hispanic, and other underrepresented groups.
By Nick Statt for The Verge on July 21, 2020