Data orientalism: on the algorithmic construction of the non-Western other

Kotliar, Dan M.

doi:10.1007/s11186-020-09404-2

Cited by 22 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 69 publications

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“…As certain algorithms spread from their Silicon Valley origins to non-Western contexts, intercultural encounters occur. Kotliar (2020: 919) notes that the ‘spatial trajectories through which algorithms operate and the distances and differences between the people who develop such algorithms and the users their algorithms affect [often] remain overlooked’.…”

Section: Autocomplete Algorithmic Power and Global Linguistic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Algorithmic power and African indigenous languages: search engine autocomplete and the global multilingual Internet

Chonka

Diepeveen

Haile

2022

Media, Culture & Society

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Predictive language technologies – such as Google Search’s Autocomplete – constitute forms of algorithmic power that reflect and compound global power imbalances between Western technology companies and multilingual Internet users in the global South. Increasing attention is being paid to predictive language technologies and their impacts on individual users and public discourse. However, there is a lack of scholarship on how such technologies interact with African languages. Addressing this gap, the article presents data from experimentation with autocomplete predictions/suggestions for gendered or politicised keywords in Amharic, Kiswahili and Somali. It demonstrates that autocomplete functions for these languages and how users may be exposed to harmful content due to an apparent lack of filtering of problematic ‘predictions’. Drawing on debates on algorithmic power and digital colonialism, the article demonstrates that global power imbalances manifest here not through a lack of online African indigenous language content, but rather in regard to the moderation of content across diverse cultural and linguistic contexts. This raises dilemmas for actors invested in the multilingual Internet between risks of digital surveillance and effective platform oversight, which could prevent algorithmic harms to users engaging with platforms in a myriad of languages and diverse socio-cultural and political environments.

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Section: Autocomplete Algorithmic Power and Global Linguistic Diversitymentioning

confidence: 99%

Algorithmic power and African indigenous languages: search engine autocomplete and the global multilingual Internet

Chonka

Diepeveen

Haile

2022

Media, Culture & Society

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“…8. Compare Kotliar (2020) on how cultural difference is reproduced and constructed in data processes. 9.…”

Section: Critiques Of the Data Colonialism Thesismentioning

confidence: 99%

The decolonial turn in data and technology research: what is at stake and where is it heading?

Couldry

Mejías

2021

Information, Communication & Society

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This article traces the emergence of a 'decolonial turn' in critical technology and data studies that analyzes the transformation of society through data extraction for profit. First, we offer a genealogy of concepts over the last decade from different fields related to this decolonial turn, including work that explores the connection between racism and data. Second, we discuss the commonalities and differences between these approaches and our own proposal, the data colonialism thesis (Couldry & Mejias, 2018 to clarify how, together, they provide a distinctive take on data and technology. Third, we summarize the most important advantages of the decolonial turn as a transhistorical tool to understand the continuities between colonialism and capitalism. Finally, some wider implications of a decolonial approach to data are explored, and broad theoretical and practical opportunities for resistance are identified.

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“…Most platforms that emerged from the West “tend to be created by small groups of (usually) (young) (White) (American) men” (Baym, 2015, p. 1). Therefore, developers may consciously or unconsciously bring their own Whiteness to digital platform design, which can even result in Western-centric algorithms (Kotliar, 2020). Whiteness, as Dyer (1997) suggests, is not a fixed definition but a relatively fluid “coalition with a border and an internal hierarchy” (p. 51).…”

Section: Literature Reviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

From “Oh, you’re Chinese . . . ” to “No bats, thx!”: Racialized Experiences of Australian-Based Chinese Queer Women in the Mobile Dating Context

Chen

2021

Social Media + Society

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This article explores racial exclusion, bias, and prejudice in the context of same-sex mobile dating, focusing on the experiences of a group of Australian-based Chinese queer women. Semi-structured in-depth interviews and participant observation were used to examine participants’ racialized experiences. The findings indicate that Western dating apps, such as Tinder, Bumble, and HER, served as crucial channels of these women’s interracial and intercultural encounters while living in Australia. However, they largely perceived these apps, and HER in particular, as White-dominated and ill-suited to their dating practices, thus reinforcing their sense of exclusion and ostracism. Although the participants frequently encountered subtle prejudice on dating apps, they experienced more blatant and aggressive forms of racism triggered by the COVID-19 outbreak. Multiple factors, including their language capability, the COVID-19 pandemic, and their racial, ethnic, and diasporic identities, played an intersectional role in these women’s racialized experiences. Correspondingly, the participants developed diverse interpretations of and responses to their racialized experiences. This study reveals how the anti-Asian racism in the global West permeates the realm of queer women in the context of mobile dating. It contributes to understanding the digital dating practices and racialized experiences of queer women and the broader Chinese diaspora.

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Data orientalism: on the algorithmic construction of the non-Western other

Cited by 22 publications

References 69 publications

Algorithmic power and African indigenous languages: search engine autocomplete and the global multilingual Internet

Algorithmic power and African indigenous languages: search engine autocomplete and the global multilingual Internet

The decolonial turn in data and technology research: what is at stake and where is it heading?

From “Oh, you’re Chinese . . . ” to “No bats, thx!”: Racialized Experiences of Australian-Based Chinese Queer Women in the Mobile Dating Context

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