Discrimination by moderation: How to address gender and racial bias in content moderation

Event recording

The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung European Union and Washington, DC offices are hosting a transatlantic online discussion that will seek to address discrimination of LGBTIQA+ and racial groups through content moderation.

Amid the EU discussion on the draft Digital Services Act (DSA) and of the US debate on reforming Section 230 of the US Communications Decency Act, we will present the reports:

• The state of content moderation for the LGBTIQA+ community and the role of the EU Digital Services Act by Christina Dinar
• Algorithmic misogynoir in content moderation practice by Brandeis Marshall

The reports provide the basis for our transatlantic discussion on how to create a fairer and more inclusive online ecosystem. After a short presentation of the reports, we will debate with:

• Christina Dinar, Deputy Director at the Centre for Internet and Human Rights, expert on anti-discrimination strategies online
• Brandeis Marshall, Data scientist and Full Professor of Computer Science at Spelman College, Black education activist for Black women thriving in data and tech careers
• Tiemo Wölken, Member of the European Parliament (Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats), shadow rapporteur for the opinion of the Legal Affairs Committee on the Digital Services Act
• Shakira Smith, Research Director at Salty Algorithmic Bias Collective, scholar-practitioner-advocate and dual-PhD candidate at Indiana University

Chair: Jennifer Baker, independent journalist reporting on tech policy & digital rights

The discussion will be followed by a Q&A with the audience and take place with simultaneous German and English interpretation. We would be delighted if you join us for this discussion.

For any questions, please contact Anna Trzcińska.

Note: The technical requirements for participating in the event are a computer, tablet or smartphone with a speaker. Online events will be held using the Zoom software, which will provide a link for participating. The event will be recorded. On first using Zoom, this access link will initiate the download of the client software ("Zoom-launcher.exe"). This software must be executed or installed (recommended) on your computer. If you prefer not to download it, please click on the link "join via browser". Note: This option is only available for Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Please join the event a few minutes before its start time. After registering for an event, our privacy policy applies. The Heinrich-Böll-Stiftung is not liable for the Zoom software. The Zoom privacy policy is available here.