A revealing look at how negative biases against women of color are embedded in search engine
results and algorithms Run a Google search for "Black girls"-what will you find? "Big Booty"
and other sexually explicit terms are likely to come up as top search terms. But if you type
in "white girls " the results are radically different. The suggested porn sites and
un-moderated discussions about "why Black women are so sassy" or "why Black women are so angry"
presents a disturbing portrait of Black womanhood in modern society. In Algorithms of
Oppression Safiya Umoja Noble challenges the idea that search engines like Google offer an
equal playing field for all forms of ideas identities and activities. Data discrimination is
a real social problem Noble argues that the combination of private interests in promoting
certain sites along with the monopoly status of a relatively small number of Internet search
engines leads to a biased set of search algorithms that privilege whiteness and discriminate
against people of color specifically women of color. Through an analysis of textual and media
searches as well as extensive research on paid online advertising Noble exposes a culture of
racism and sexism in the way discoverability is created online. As search engines and their
related companies grow in importance-operating as a source for email a major vehicle for
primary and secondary school learning and beyond-understanding and reversing these disquieting
trends and discriminatory practices is of utmost importance. An original surprising and at
times disturbing account of bias on the internet Algorithms of Oppression contributes to our
understanding of how racism is created maintained and disseminated in the 21st century.
