Presentation at the 2017 Ethicomp conference discussing issues of editorial responsibility of online platforms arising from personalization algorithms that mediate the information that people see online.

1. Editorial responsibilities arising
from personalisation algorithms
Ansgar Koene, Elvira Perez Vallejos, Helena Webb,
Menisha Patel, Sofia Ceppi, Marina Jirotka and Derek
McAuley
ETHICOMP
Torino, 8th June 2017
http://unbias.wp.horizon.ac.uk/

2. Personalisation
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http://www.smartinsights.com/

3. Personalisation Algorithms (PAs)
• Personalisation Algorithms (PAs) ensure the content
presented to the user is relevant and engaging
• PAs are designed to prioritise and make some information
more visible than others
• However, there is no transparency in the criteria used for
ranking this information
• What are the consequences on users?
• Limiting exposure to attitude-challenging information
• Intellectual isolation
• Filter bubble/Echo Chambers effect
• Personal agency
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4. Good information service = good filtering
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5. Algorithms in the news
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6. User understanding of social media algorithms:
Facebook News Feed
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Of 40 interviewed participants more than 60% of
Facebook users are entirely unaware of any algorithmic
curation on Facebook at all: “They believed every single
story from their friends and followed pages appeared in
their news feed”.
Published at: CHI 2015

7. How do the algorithms work?
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PAs algorithms usually identify
personalised interests patterns
based on assumptions about user
behaviour (time/topic)

8. Positioning effect in NewsFeed
E. Bakshy, S. Medding & L.A. Adamic, “Exposure to ideologically diverse news and opinion on Facebook” Science, 348, 1130-1132, 2015
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9. Personalised recommendations
• Content based– similarity to past results the user liked
• Collaborative filtering – results that similar users liked (people
with statistically similar tastes/interests)
• Community based – results that people in the same social
network liked
(people who are linked on a social network e.g. ‘friends’)
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10. Editorial responsibility… who? Me?
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We do not
alter content We just
reshape
content
We are a
technological
company
We are NOT a media
company and therefore
we do not hold editorial
responsibility

11. What about Responsible Research and
Innovation (RRI)?
• Due to their global reach and potential to promote the exercise
and enjoyment of human rights and fundamental freedoms,
social media companies have to arbitrate on the balance
between:
• Public interest vs. Personal privacy (e.g., the right to be forgotten)
• Rights of freedom of expression vs. Protection of harm (e.g. hate
speech)
• Accordingly Social Media platforms should take editorial-like
responsibility towards the public and adopt a code of ethics to
promote corporate social responsibility and a healthy
democratic discourse
• Including concepts such as public interest in their
optimisation algorithms
• This would imply applying principles of RRI and the
development of mutual learning via multi-stakeholder
involvement 11

12. Responsible Editorial Approach
• Ethical obligation to serve the public interest is based
on trusteeship, where policy makers and media
organisations apply normative principles of social
responsibility
• By contrast, social media platforms exhibit a
marketplace approach
• The platform enables an environment in which users take
responsibility when signing T&C
• In 2012 the Reuters Institute for the Study of
Journalism found that digital intermediaries act as
gatekeepers who exert editorial-like judgements:
• Content ranking manipulates information accessibility
• Lack of transparency to define relevance of content
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13. To conclude
• In keeping with:
• ACM Principles of Algorithmic Transparency and
Accountability
• IEEE Vision for Prioritising Human Wellbeing with AI and
Autonomous Systems
• 2012 recommendation of the Council of Europe on the
protection of human rights with regard to social
networking services
SOCIAL MEDIA PLATFORMS SHOULD BE ACCOUNTABLE
FOR THE EDITORIAL-LIKE CONTROL EXERTED BY THEIR PAs
ON THE CONTENT VISIBILITY EXPERIENCED BY USERS
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14. EPSRC funded UnBias project
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http://unbias.wp.horizon.ac.uk/