On October 31, a bipartisan group of senators introduced the Filter Bubble Transparency Act (FBTA), an act which would require large online platforms to be more transparent in their use of algorithms driven by user-specific data.
“This legislation is about transparency and consumer control,” said Senator John Thune (R-S.D.).
“For free markets to work as effectively and as efficiently as possible, consumers need as much information as possible, including a better understanding of how internet platforms use artificial intelligence and opaque algorithms to make inferences.”
The bill is named after Eli Pariser’s book The Filter Bubble, which argues that the personalized search results generated by user-specific data can trap users in an ideological bubble by filtering out content contrary to their ideological viewpoints.Continue Reading Bipartisan Bill Seeks to Increase Internet Transparency and Consumer Control Over Content