Feeling Cute Might Get Banned Later

Students: Myra Cronauer, Basia Jagiello, Anna Fiedler
Tutors: Mario Santamaría, Anna Vidal Gayette, Valeria Castillo, Ivan Paz, Raúl Goñi
Format: Interactive Artifact
Topic: Internet Data Mining
Year: 2024


As our society becomes increasingly digital, the majority of discourses, debates and conversations now take place online. Algorithms shape how these discourses unfold and determine who and what gets visibility. But technology is not neutral; the algorithms that moderate social media platforms are the product of human hands. They reflect the biases and power structures of their creators, and as such are embedded in systems of oppression.  As a result, marginalised voices and paradigm-challenging perspectives are suppressed, while prioritising images of women that conform to Western standards of beauty, creating a new form of censorship: Algorithmic censorship.  The dominance of a few social media giants leaves little room to escape these controls. In response, we developed a tool to resist algorithmic censorship and reclaim social media as an essential part of the public sphere - an arena for free expression and collective discourse.
Shadowbanning, Freedom of speech, Resistance, Algorithmic censorship, Visibility.