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Incident 417: Facebook Feed Algorithms Exposed Low Digitally Skilled Users to More Disturbing Content

Description: Facebook feed algorithms were known by internal research to have harmed people having low digital literacy by exposing them to disturbing content they did not know how to avoid or monitor.

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Alleged: Facebook developed and deployed an AI system, which harmed low digitally skilled Facebook users.

Incident Stats

Incident ID
417
Report Count
4
Incident Date
2019-11-15
Editors
Khoa Lam
Applied Taxonomies
MIT

MIT Taxonomy Classifications

Machine-Classified
Taxonomy Details

Risk Subdomain

A further 23 subdomains create an accessible and understandable classification of hazards and harms associated with AI
 

1.2. Exposure to toxic content

Risk Domain

The Domain Taxonomy of AI Risks classifies risks into seven AI risk domains: (1) Discrimination & toxicity, (2) Privacy & security, (3) Misinformation, (4) Malicious actors & misuse, (5) Human-computer interaction, (6) Socioeconomic & environmental harms, and (7) AI system safety, failures & limitations.
 
  1. Discrimination and Toxicity

Entity

Which, if any, entity is presented as the main cause of the risk
 

AI

Timing

The stage in the AI lifecycle at which the risk is presented as occurring
 

Post-deployment

Intent

Whether the risk is presented as occurring as an expected or unexpected outcome from pursuing a goal
 

Unintentional

Incident Reports

Reports Timeline

Incident Occurrence+3
Why Some People See More Disturbing Content on Facebook Than Others, According to Leaked Documents
Why Some People See More Disturbing Content on Facebook Than Others, According to Leaked Documents

Why Some People See More Disturbing Content on Facebook Than Others, According to Leaked Documents

time.com

Facebook fed posts with violence and nudity to people with low digital literacy

Facebook fed posts with violence and nudity to people with low digital literacy

usatoday.com

Facebook Exposed Its Less Digital Conversant Audience To Graphic Content

Facebook Exposed Its Less Digital Conversant Audience To Graphic Content

screenrant.com

Facebook’s Latest Scandal: Exposing Low Digitally Skilled Users to More Violent and Adult Content

Facebook’s Latest Scandal: Exposing Low Digitally Skilled Users to More Violent and Adult Content

visiontimes.com

Why Some People See More Disturbing Content on Facebook Than Others, According to Leaked Documents
time.com · 2021

Some users are significantly more likely to see disturbing content on Facebook than others, according to internal company documents leaked by whistleblower Frances Haugen.

A 2019 report from Facebook’s Civic Integrity team details the resul…

Facebook fed posts with violence and nudity to people with low digital literacy
usatoday.com · 2021
  • Facebook studies said algorithms harmed users with low tech skills with repeated disturbing content.
  • Some users did not understand how content came to appear in their feeds or how to control it.
  • These users were often older, people of colo…
Facebook Exposed Its Less Digital Conversant Audience To Graphic Content
screenrant.com · 2021

Facebook's track record with content available on its platform is nothing worth envying, but for users who are not well-versed with social media tools, the platform dished out more disturbing content that could be anything from graphically …

Facebook’s Latest Scandal: Exposing Low Digitally Skilled Users to More Violent and Adult Content
visiontimes.com · 2021

Facebook has been dealing with scandal after scandal for some time and has come under intense scrutiny from global lawmakers and regulators. According to a recent report, users with low digital literacy skills have become the latest victims…

Variants

A "variant" is an incident that shares the same causative factors, produces similar harms, and involves the same intelligent systems as a known AI incident. Rather than index variants as entirely separate incidents, we list variations of incidents under the first similar incident submitted to the database. Unlike other submission types to the incident database, variants are not required to have reporting in evidence external to the Incident Database. Learn more from the research paper.
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