Aiming to curb so-called “algorithmic
discrimination,” the White House is directing by regulators to address ways in which tech companies' automated systems potentially fuel bias.
In an executive order issued late last week, President Joe Biden specifically told federal agencies to combat discrimination, “including by protecting the public from algorithmic
discrimination.”
The order defined that term as “instances when automated systems contribute to unjustified different treatment or impacts disfavoring people” based on
protected characteristics, such as race, religion, sex and genetic information.
The order comes amid continued scrutiny of the algorithms used by tech companies. Several years ago, researchers
from Northeastern University, the University of Southern California, and the advocacy group Upturn reported that Facebook's ad-delivery system appears to send ads to users based
on stereotypes.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development also sued Facebook in 2019, alleging that its ad-delivery system discriminates based on characteristics like race and
gender -- even when advertisers don't want to do so.
Meta recently settled that complaint by agreeing to roll out a new ad targeting
system that will rely on machine learning to curb discrimination in ads for housing, employment and credit.
For at least the last four years, lawmakers have introduced bills that aim to tackle
possible algorithmic discrimination. In 2019, Senators Ron Wyden (D-Oregon), Cory Booker (D-N.J.) and Rep. Yvette D. Clarke (D-N.Y.) introduced one measure, the Algorithmic Accountability Act,
which would have required companies to study whether their algorithms pose risks to privacy, as well as whether they may result in inaccurate, unfair or discriminatory decisions.
In 2021,
Senator Ed Markey (D-Massachusetts) and Rep. Doris Matsui (CA-06) unveiled the Algorithmic Justice and Online Platform Transparency Act of 2021, which would have prohibited online platforms from
deploying algorithms that discriminate based on protected characteristics.
On Friday, Markey praised the White House's executive order.
“If we are going to address discrimination
today, we have to open the hood on Big Tech,” Markey stated. “We cannot allow Big Tech to operate computer code without a code of conduct.”