DRAFT MISSION STATEMENT:

There is undoubtedly a measurable, worldwide rise in the violence and menace that right–wing extremism and fascism are inflicting on marginalized and vulnerable populations. Simultaneously, these voices, ideas, and actions are being normalized and “mainstreamed” in many of the world’s political forums and cultural conversations, largely because of shifts in the management, staffing, writing practices, and editorial policies of conventional journalistic institutions, and largely because most of the world (and its understaffed news rooms) increasingly gets its news, opinions, and the concepts that frame conversations from non-journalistic sources delivered by algorithmic social media. In many ways, these algorithms (and the entirely human decisions of the corporations in charge of them) seem to favor this shift away from classical journalism and towards new forms of media that the far–right, populist, and/or anti-democratic forces seem more successful at appropriating. Many observers of these developments harbor a growing sense of uncertainty as tech giants continue to enforce community standards in a way that silences marginalized groups and favors extremists- all while responding incredibly slowly to the growing reality of offline violence spurred by online speech, from the USA to Germany to Sri Lanka.

We want to highlight the stories of people or communities that have been negatively impacted by the manipulation of AI and algorithms of new-media/social-media platforms by right-wing interests. We hope that these case studies will make clear the pitfalls and ethical obligations of journalism in our new age of algorithmic decisions about what content gets seen, or is even allowed to exist online, helping all journalists and information workers to come together with a common framework for understanding and action. We have assembled some resources:

• Tips on researching/reporting algorithms
• In extensive glossary of terminology.
• A partial collection of case studies showing how social media manipulation has impacted communities, an extensive listing of further reading, and advice for organizations.
• Some precedents of open letters and public statements:
  • Research Priorities for Robust and Beneficial Artificial Intelligence
  • In solidarity with Library Genesis and Sci-Hub
  • In Support of Google Employees and Tech Workers who want to withdraw from military projects