{"id":1897,"date":"2018-09-05T22:36:47","date_gmt":"2018-09-05T22:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/twitter-algorithms-were-not-always-impartial\/"},"modified":"2018-09-05T22:36:47","modified_gmt":"2018-09-05T22:36:47","slug":"twitter-algorithms-were-not-always-impartial","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.styledeals.co.uk\/blog\/twitter-algorithms-were-not-always-impartial\/","title":{"rendered":"Twitter: Algorithms were not always impartial"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey has told US lawmakers the company’s algorithms have not always been “impartial”.<\/p>\n

He said the platform “unfairly” reduced the visibility of 600,000 accounts, including some members of Congress.<\/p>\n

But he was unable to immediately say whether a majority of them were Republican, Democratic or otherwise.<\/p>\n

Mr Dorsey is being questioned by senators over allegations that Twitter censors conservative voices.<\/p>\n

Several Republicans, including US President Donald Trump, have accused Twitter of bias, which the company denies.<\/p>\n

“Twitter does not use political ideology to make any decisions, whether related to ranking content on our service or how we enforce our rules,” said Mr Dorsey.<\/p>\n

However, he said the company had made mistakes.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the US Department of Justice said it would investigate “growing concern that these companies may be hurting competition and intentionally stifling the free exchange of ideas on their platforms”.<\/p>\n

What is the Twitter hearing about?<\/h2>\n

Allegations of censorship were fuelled when Twitter added a “quality filter” to the platform and its search results.<\/p>\n

Some users noticed that their tweets no longer appeared in search results and suggested that their content was being hidden, known as a “shadow ban”.<\/p>\n

Mr Dorsey told senators that the platform used “hundreds of signals” to decide “what to show, down-rank and filter”.<\/p>\n

“We do not shadow-ban anyone based on political ideology,” he said.<\/p>\n

He explained that the algorithm had acted on the behaviour of people following accounts – so some politicians were punished for the behaviour of their followers.<\/p>\n

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\n Mr Dorsey is giving evidence in Washington
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“It was unfair”, said Mr Dorsey. “We corrected it.”<\/p>\n

Several senators in the hearing said the investigation was a waste of time.<\/p>\n

Democrat Paul Sabanes said the hearing had been triggered by “deep-state conspiracy theories proffered by the president” while fellow Democrat Jerry McNerney said it was an effort by Republicans to motivate their voters.<\/p>\n

“President Trump and many Republicans have peddled conspiracy theories about Twitter and other social media platforms to whip up their base and fundraise,” said Frank Pallone, a Democrat.<\/p>\n

Mr Pallone said Twitter could not be accused of anti-conservative bias while it allowed President Trump to use it for “juvenile tweets and misinformation”.<\/p>\n

What else did Mr Dorsey reveal?<\/h2>\n