Safiya Umoja Noble
Professor at UCLA; author of Algorithms of Oppression
Safiya Umoja Noble documented how search engines surface racist and sexist results, and argued that this is a commercial outcome rather than an accident. Algorithms of Oppression (2018) is one of the founding texts of search and platform accountability. She was named a MacArthur Fellow in 2021.
Key arguments & positions
- Argues search results are commercial products, so racist and sexist results reflect the advertising business model rather than a technical accident.
- Holds that platforms should be regulated as public infrastructure because of the role they play in what people can know.
- Warns against treating "more data" as a remedy for representational harm.
Accomplishments
- Professor of Gender Studies and African American Studies at UCLA, and director of the Center on Race and Digital Justice.
- MacArthur Fellow, 2021.
- Author of Algorithms of Oppression (2018), a founding text of search and platform accountability.
Papers & key writings
Links
In the library
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