In the book “Algorithms of Oppression”, the author, Safiya Umoja Noble investigates the different oppressed groups in America and relates it to the internet and search algorithms. Her argument focuses around algorithms that are supposed to be nonobjective and free from human bias. She claims that many large, corporate companies that control the algorithms for search engines are infiltrated with workers and engineers that have bias while designing them; sexism, racism, etc… She argues that this unfairly affects minorities and leaves them with more challenges.
This is tough for me to respond to. I am a Caucasian male and will admit I have yet to face any of these challenges listed within the pages of Safiya Noble’s book. That doesn’t mean I haven’t faced challenges in my life, they are just different then others.
It is unfortunate that some use their power to control the narrative. In this case, Google engineers working on software algorithms are embedding their personal bias into the code. I don’t believe this defines Google as whole, there are always bad apples in a group. Oppressive issues shouldn’t be ignored, people need to be held accountable for their actions. At the same time those people shouldn’t define the entire group which often happens.
I enjoyed reading excerpts from Safiya Noble’s book and feel I gained valuable perspective into what minorities deal with daily. The examples she gave such as google search results was enlightening and I agree that these algorithms should be neutral and objective. I believe the author has ultimately brought light to a situation that needed attention and it has and will continue to make a difference. Her goal was to open dialect on the topic and she undoubtedly accomplished that because we can talk about it on our blog! Looking forward to reading other responses!