Dr. Hany Farid: “Algorithmic Amplification Is A Key Driving Force For Spreading
Problematic, Harmful Content Online”
<[link removed]>
<[link removed]>
CEP Statement On Section 230 Reform And The Justice Against Malicious
Algorithms Act of 2021
Dr. Hany Farid: “Algorithmic Amplification Is A Key Driving Force For
Spreading Problematic, Harmful Content Online”
(New York, N.Y.) — Dr. Hany Farid, Counter Extremism Project (CEP) senior
advisor and professor at the University of California, Berkeley, released the
following statement in support of theJustice Against Malicious Algorithms Act
of 2021
<[link removed]>
. This bill—which will be introduced tomorrow by Energy and Commerce Committee
Chairman Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ), Communications and Technology Subcommittee
Chairman Mike Doyle (D-PA), Consumer Protection and Commerce Subcommittee Chair
Jan Schakowsky (D-IL), and Health Subcommittee Chair Anna Eshoo (D-CA)—narrowly
amends Section 230(c) of the Communications Decency Act (CDA) and would lift
the liability shield when an online platform knowingly or recklessly deploys
recommendation algorithms to promote content that materially contributes to
physical or severe emotional injury.
“Algorithmic amplification is a key driving force for spreading problematic,
harmful content online. As it stands, for-profit tech companies have a business
incentive to increase engagement on their platforms—including by promoting
divisive, hateful, and extremist content—in order to increase revenues.
Legislation is clearly needed to shift that corporate calculation.
“The proposed bill is a sensible legislative solution that holds the tech
industry accountable for their reckless behavior in proliferating content
ranging from child sex abuse, terrorism, the sale of illegal narcotics and
weapons, to misinformation.”
In March 2020, Dr. Farid and other UC Berkeley researchers authored a study, A
Longitudinal Analysis Of YouTube’s Promotion Of Conspiracy Videos
<[link removed]>, that analyzed
YouTube’s policies and efforts towards curbing its recommendation algorithm’s
tendency to spread divisive conspiracy theories. After reviewing eight million
recommendations over 15 months, researchers determined the progress YouTube
claimed in June 2019 to have reduced the amount of time its users watched
recommended videos including conspiracies by 50 percent—and in December 2019 by
70 percent—did not make the “problem of radicalization on YouTube obsolete nor
fictional.” The study ultimately found that a more complete analysis of
YouTube’s algorithmic recommendations showed the proportion of conspiratorial
recommendations are “now only 40 percent less common than when the YouTube’s
measures were first announced.”
On June 30, 2021, CEP hosted a webinar
<[link removed]>
with Dr. Farid to explore the nature and extent of the global phenomenon of
misinformation as well as the role of algorithmic amplification in promoting
misinformation and divisive content online and its devastating consequences.
The webinar also examined several technological and regulatory interventions
that could potentially curb misinformation, including the upcoming EU Digital
Services Act.
###
Unsubscribe
<[link removed]>
