Search engine bias

Eugenics is alive and well within the machine

In her book, Algorithms of Oppression, author Safiya Umoja Noble lays out the case for the built-in racism of the major search engines. I agree with her premise. However, I think that what she’s documented is just the tip of the iceberg. When working on a chapter for my upcoming book, I found the results so skewed that I think I would modify her thesis to state that there is a eugenics skew to the algorithms.

Eugenics, or scientific racism, is more than a hundred years old now. Most think it’s a discredited relic that died out after WWII. Nothing could be further from the truth. As author Edwin Black has so thoroughly documented in his books, it’s alive and well today.

I typed in “why are people autistic” into the Bing search engine. Among the results in the top 10 were pages with titles like “10 "Rude" Things Autistic People Do (And What They Really Mean)” and “Why are autistic people so hated? - Quora.” The other results tended towards discussions about genetic mutations and abnormalities. I typed the same question into Google. I got a page full of “cause” results. Within those results, the same myth of Kanner’s “discovery” was recounted. Not a single mention of Dr. Sukhareva could be found. This is important. The Kanner / Asperger wing wants to identify autism so as to eliminate it. The Sukhareva (paedology) wing wants to identify it so as to create an environment in which the person can reach their full potential.

Aside from my own work, this bias is dangerous to our community as many newly diagnosed people turn to the internet to research this new aspect of their identity. They search “what is autism,” “why am I autistic,” or even the more esoteric, “what purpose does autism serve.” They get the message from the results that science is working on a way to cure us, but in the mean time there are some intensive and expensive therapies that can help us navigate the world. What kind of message is this?

For folks that are new to advocacy, I tend to advise against reading the popular narratives like Neurotribes first. They perpetuate the false histories of Kanner. Instead, I recommend reading Edwin Black’s War Against the Weak: Eugenics and America's Campaign to Create a Master Race, Expanded Edition (link). Black’s work will give the reader a full account of the history of this vile movement, it’s aims and goals, and how it’s alive and well today. After all, if you’re going to become an advocate, you must know your adversary. You must understand that your adversary is actively working for the day that you and I, and everyone like us no longer exist.

Black’s work can help you discover the true playing field. This can help steer you away from the evil characters like Stanford’s William Shockley and his ilk. As always, you can leave questions in the comments. I’ll do my best to answer and send you in the right direction.