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We unleashed Facebook and Instagram’s algorithms on blank accounts. They served up sexism and misogyny (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 5 months ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

80 comments fedilink hide all child comments

How do the algorithms of Facebook and Instagram affect what you see in your news feed? To find out, Guardian Australia unleashed them on a completely blank smartphone linked to a new, unused email address.

Three months later, without any input, they were riddled with sexist and misogynistic content.

Initially Facebook served up jokes from The Office and other sitcom-related memes alongside posts from 7 News, Daily Mail and Ladbible. A day later it began showing Star Wars memes and gym or “dudebro”-style content.

By day three, “trad Catholic”-type memes began appearing and the feed veered into more sexist content.

Three months later, The Office, Star Wars, and now The Boys memes continue to punctuate the feed, now interspersed with highly sexist and misogynistic images that have have appeared in the feed without any input from the user.

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[–] [email protected] 20 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago) (1 children)

So these algos they time how long you look at things when scrolling. So to begin, sure there's no user input, but the mere act of looking unless controlled to be exactly the same on everything is in fact input.

Getting a sexist thing and lingering on it for an extra 5 seconds tells the algo you engaged with the sexist thing so send them more sexist things.

Edit: it shouldn't be serving it up at all, but that's how this can happen.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 5 months ago (1 children)

I wonder if they did any other Internet activities on the phone at all too... I don't know for sure if it matters, but I wouldn't be surprised if Facebook can track where you go or have been on the Internet to some degree.

[–] [email protected] 7 points 5 months ago* (last edited 5 months ago)

Absolutely, that's the whole tracking ID thing.

Apple makes that required to opt in now, I don't think that's the case in all Android devices yet though?