There is, however, one bright note: the rise of critical information science that seeks to systematically establish the distortions woven into social caching’s presentations of the world. There is now an emerging movement for algorithmic justice, which has raised awareness of many specific issues. The critical movement within data science concerned with “Fairness, Accountability and Transparency” has regular conferences, and a number of universities have focused programs for investigating how algorithms cover the social domain. More generally, an important intersection between critical information science, legal theory, and social theory is opening up the question of how the social qualification sector presents the social world for action by powerful institutions. US civil society has generated some effective campaigning. For example, ProPublica’s demonstration that it was straightforward to build implicit racial exclusions into housing advertisements led to Facebook adjusting its practice on monitoring ads.

Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection, loc. 440