Creighton Libraries Connections

Book Review by Brian Tuttle

Algorithms of Oppression by Safiya Umoja Noble

Call Number: AZ4230.N63 2018

ISBN: 9781479837243

Publication Date: 2018-02-20

 

Noble (University of California, Los Angeles) has written a book that identifies how biases based in racist and sexist thought have been incorporated into search algorithms. She covers the inception of search moving to how Google Search came to dominate the information search environment and concluding how effective change to combat these algorithmic biases can come to fruition.

Over the course of six chapters, Noble’s focus ranges from Google Search and identified biases moving to ways to confirm truthful information that is presented in search results. Central chapters address that all search does not need to happen in Google and that specific types of data protection need to be implemented for all. The last two chapters dwell on how information in the public sphere will be handled in the future along with how citizenry can demand and work for social equality in the information ecosystem.

A central message that comes across in the book is the absence of critical thinking when search is involved. Several factors play into this absence, one being the sense of instant gratification with search results. Another is a lack of healthy skepticism. What Noble strives for the reader to use, is exactly critical thinking and not taking things at face value.

To that end, there are several points in the chapters that present themselves for further examination. This writer will use the remainder of this review to address each of those points in the context of today’s information environment.

The first point to cover, is the message from Noble that search engines are driven by advertising dollars and based on that fact often don’t present what is truthful. This majorly impacts both businesses tied in and with communities of color. Lack of opportunities and declining business are often a result of a biased algorithm based on a keyword or subject term search.

The second point is the importance of data privacy, which is increasingly becoming a subject of more and concern. Details such as having the right to be forgotten, control of your own data and the right to privacy are paramount as the holders of search data become more concentrated and powerful. A focused effort to hold search engines accountable for these privacy concerns is a start.

The third and final point is the future of both public knowledge and the information culture. From a librarian’s point of view, there are opportunities to create equality in the classification systems that form the basis of search in commercial search engines. The message that presents itself is users need to be involved for things to change, and not follow blindly based on ease of use.

To conclude, Algorithms of Oppression makes a strong case of how bias, both racist and sexist, in algorithmic search has been subtly introduced, reinforced and quietly hidden in the millions of daily searches. Noble presents multiple ideas and options on how to correct and remove the bias and promote equality in the search process. This year Noble was selected as a 2021 MacArthur Fellow for “highlighting the ways digital technologies and internet architectures magnify racism, sexism and harmful stereotypes.”

Brian Tuttle, Systems Librarian

briantuttle@creighton.edu

402.280.2978