On this episode, I talk about how Instagram Outlined Steps to Address Potential Areas of Racial Inequality on its Platform.
Mosseri outlined four steps that Instagram will be taking to improve racial representation and equality on its platform.
Harassment - Mosseri says that Instagram will be looking to address any potential gaps in its policies which may be seeing different groups experience more harassment and abuse
Account verification - Mosseri says that Instagram will also re-assess its verification process to ensure that there's no endemic bias in how verification is allocated and approved. "Verification is an area we constantly get questions on - what the guidelines are, and whether or not the criteria is favoring some groups more than others."
Distribution - Mosseri also says that Instagram will review its content policies to ensure that there's no inherent bias in how content is chosen for its Explore and Hashtag pages. Mosseri also says it will investigate "shadowbanning", which sees content get less exposure without explanation as to how or why. "Soon we'll be releasing more information about the types of content we avoid recommending on Explore and other places".
Algorithmic bias - And lastly, Mosseri says that they will examine their algorithms to avoid repeating patterns, like racial bias, which are instituted based on biased inputs. "While we do a lot of work to help prevent subconscious bias in our products, we need to take a harder look at the underlying systems we've built, and where we need to do more to keep bias out of these decisions".