“There is a need for a legal and organisational framework”, said BJP MP Rajeev Chandrashekhar in Rajya Sabha yesterday, referring to the Algorithmic Accountability Bill that has been proposed in the US Senate. He also added that “technology is running far ahead of our laws and our ability to regulate”. Chandrasekhar argued that a trend - “algorithmic bias” - has emerged on social media platforms to either suppress or deny “certain conversations”, and at the same time amplify other conversations. According to him, social media platforms are stifling Article 19(1) of the Indian Constitution. “Every time an individual raises an issue with these social media platforms, they hide behind the use of algorithms. But these algorithms are in effect curtailing Article 19(1) of the Constitution. With reasonable restrictions and those restrictions have not been made public by any of these social media platforms vis-a-vis their algorithms.” He drew the attention of the House to the proposed Algorithmic Accountability Bill in the US: "The use of these automated decision systems such as machine learning and AI is increasing everywhere and I draw the attention of the House to the Algorithmic Accountability Bill that has been proposed in the US Senate.” #TodayInParliament I raised the issue of algorithmic bias in social media platforms like Twitter and urged the govt to ensure a legal & organizational framework to check bias. We need Algorithmic Accountability Bill to ensure that digital intermediaries are held responsible. pic.twitter.com/RSmCLJBkln — Rajeev Chandrasekhar ?? (@rajeev_mp) July 17, 2019 Amar Shankar…
