Facebook Facing Ad Boycott to Establish Algorithmic Bias Prevention Research Team

Facebook-Instagram to Establish Related Teams
Algorithm Considered Value-Neutral but Criticized for Promoting Discrimination

[Image source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Hyunjin] Facebook, which faced criticism for neglecting racist and hateful posts and experienced advertising boycotts from companies, has decided to establish a team to conduct research on algorithmic racial bias issues, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 21st (local time).

According to the report, Facebook and its affiliated social networking service (SNS) Instagram will each form related teams to study the impact of algorithms on racial discrimination and prepare countermeasures. WSJ cited sources saying that they plan to investigate whether minority users in the U.S., including Black and Hispanic users, are affected by Facebook’s algorithms, including machine learning systems, and compare these effects with those on white users.

WSJ explained that Facebook will create a task force tentatively named the "Inclusive Product Team," and Instagram will form a task force tentatively called the "Fairness and Inclusion Team." Vishal Shah, Head of Instagram Service Production, stated, "The movement pursuing racial justice is a very important moment for our company," adding, "Any bias in our systems and policies goes against providing a platform for everyone to express themselves."

An algorithm is a computational program that automatically produces results based on data. Although algorithms are generally considered value-neutral, it is pointed out that the designer’s subjectivity is reflected and biases are embedded in public data itself, which can promote discrimination. WSJ noted, "In a situation where research shows discrimination in software decision-making processes, including everything from sentencing guidelines to corporate personnel decisions, the question of how to detect and correct biases in algorithms is important for technology companies and governments."

WSJ also reported that the issue of algorithmic bias has sometimes sparked controversy within Facebook. According to sources, last year Facebook banned research on racial differences related to the platform without the consent of the senior executive group called the "M Team," which includes CEO Mark Zuckerberg and COO Sheryl Sandberg. Facebook explicitly does not collect users’ race-related data.

Facebook’s move came amid ongoing advertising boycotts by companies. Facebook had previously distanced itself from controversies over algorithmic bias and was reluctant to filter out racist posts, but it appears to have responded belatedly under pressure from advertisers. In June, Facebook faced strong backlash after defending a post by U.S. President Donald Trump criticizing anti-racism protests on the grounds of freedom of expression. Subsequently, over 400 companies either stopped advertising on Facebook or reduced their advertising scale.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.