Across the Field
Policymakers and advocates need stronger methods to challenge automated decisions.
We seek to lay a strong foundation to challenge automated decisions across our issues. We look for structural opportunities to improve how governments and companies measure racial disparities, and to support advocates by expanding both legal protections and access to the information necessary to produce independent analyses. This work also includes detailed investigations into specific platforms, such as Facebook’s role in driving discrimination using targeted online advertising.
Proposals for the Biden Administration to Address Technology’s Role in Discrimination
Harlan Yu, Aaron Rieke, and Natasha Duarte
We sent a letter urging the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy to fully incorporate the Biden administration’s commitment to racial equity into its AI and technology priorities.
Read moreLatest work in this issue area
All work in this issue areaWe submitted comments in response to the Office of Science and Technology Policy’s request for information on public and private sector uses of biometric technologies.
Emily Paul and Harlan Yu
Together with other amici, we argue that Facebook is is governed by the D.C. Consumer Protection Procedures Act, even though it does not charge its users a cash price.
Aaron Rieke and Natasha Duarte
This amicus brief urges the Fourth Circuit to preserve critical and longstanding obligations under the Fair Credit Reporting Act that require consumer reporting agencies to ensure the accuracy of records used to make decisions about people’s access to housing, employment, credit, and other basic needs.
Aaron Rieke, Natasha Duarte, Urmila Janardan, and Logan Koepke
We filed a legal brief arguing that Section 230 should not fully immunize Facebook’s Ad Platform from liability under a California antidiscrimination law.
Aaron Rieke, Natasha Duarte, and Logan Koepke
Selected press and events
WIRED covers Upturn’s research on how Facebook’s ad delivery system may perpetuate bias.
Coverage from The Verge on Upturn’s research into how Facebook’s ad system can skew delivery outcomes.
The Economist covers Upturn’s research on Facebook’s seemingly discriminatory ad system.
“Facebook’s algorithms, which match marketing messages with viewers, leans on stereotypes when it comes to housing and jobs, according to [Upturn’s empirical work].”