Designing Anti-Racist Technologies for a Just Future
Experts critiqued smart cities, agtech, blockchain, and policing during Stanford s first Technology and Racial Equity Conference.
Jun 28, 2021 |
Sachin Waikar
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Digital technologies can be a force for good, but too often they emerge from sources reflecting inequality and may amplify existing racial bias and discrimination.
“Each of us has a part to play in building the world we want and envisioning ways forward,” said
“We can’t leave technology development and monitoring merely to those who have the technical know-how,” Benjamin continued. “The experiences and insights of the marginalized matter.”
Scholars, policymakers, technologists, and civil rights activists including leaders from USAID, Stop LAPD Spying Coalition, and the Harvard Kennedy School spoke on topics ranging from blockchain, policing technology, and digital agrifood all through the lens of racial equity. Here
‘Gbenga Sesan
It is important to situate the debate around the Nigerian government’s suspension of Twitter within the context of ongoing conversations between many countries and social media platforms. The hot topic of social media regulation is understandable because of the twin issues of disinformation (“fake news”) and dangerous speech (“hate speech”) but to avoid creating more problems in the name of solving same, every sensible country where these regulation conversations are happening has benefited from parliamentary oversight, judicial interpretation and citizen participation. Nigeria took a radically different approach with the Buhari-led government’s reckless action on June 4, 2021, when it ordered telecommunications companies and Internet Service Providers to cut off access to Twitter in the country.
Logan Lynn, an LGBTQ singer and musician, who has been harassed and bullied online for his provocative short film that accompanied his double album in 2019, said GLAAD s report is like an all-hands-on-deck call to arms that puts the platforms on notice. To have us all link arms and say enough is long past due, said Lynn, public relations director for .gay, a site that celebrates and supports the LGBTQ community. I m super moved that it s going to happen.
Rethinking digital advocacy
The U.S. view of social media platforms lags compared with European countries that regulate them, said Lucy Bernholz, director of the Digital Civil Society Lab at Stanford University and a member of the GLAAD report s advisory committee.
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