The Professor Who Exposed Google’s Biases
#SafiyaNoble is an American scholar of media and society. At first, she analyzed how people use Google, sharing the common belief that it was a neutral tool, a machine delivering objective results. But the data she found told a very different story.
Typing terms related to Black or Latina women, the search results displayed degrading, sexist, and racist content. These weren’t exceptions but systematic patterns. It was proof that algorithms are not neutral. They amplify prejudices, reinforce them, and turn them into perceived truth.
In 2018 she published Algorithms of Oppression, a book that brought together years of research and showed how online search could become a tool of oppression. It was an uncomfortable message, because it struck at the heart of a company many considered a reliable source of truth.
The reactions came quickly. Some accused her of politicizing technology. Others downplayed the issue. But her analysis spread, discussed in universities, picked up by newspapers, cited in public debates. In a short time, it became a reference point for anyone trying to understand how algorithms really work.
Today, here in the United States, her ideas have also entered legislative discussions. When lawmakers debate how to regulate big tech, her concepts are now unavoidable. Safiya Noble gave the world a language to see digital search not as a neutral window onto reality, but as a mirror that reflects and amplifies inequalities and discrimination.
#ArtificialDecisions #MCC
👉 Important note: We’re planning the upcoming months.
If you’d like to request my presence as a speaker at your event, please contact my team at: [email protected]