
Stories
Reels of Fortune: Instagram-shaped memories for a bigger reach
The algorithm used to do it for us, now we do it for the algorithm: Platforms seek data on what people think good memories are. One user tells us how she constructs an end-of-year Recap Reel on Instagram.



1 February 2023
What to expect from Europe’s first AI oversight agency
Spain announced the first national agency for the supervision of Artificial Intelligence. In its current shape, the plan is very industry-friendly and leaves little space to civil society.
Read more
18 December 2022
Wolt: Couriers’ feelings don’t always match the transparency report
In August, the Finnish delivery service Wolt published its first “algorithmic transparency report”. We asked three couriers about their experiences. They don't always match the report’s contents.
Read more
29 August 2022
Digital Bouncers: AI in Recruiting
Automated decision-making systems are increasingly used by companies to decide who is best for a job. Applicants are worried about being rejected by a machine, based on programmed prejudices. In Switzerland, employers are especially reluctant to speak about the hiring algorithms that they use.
Read more13 September 2021
AlgorithmWatch forced to shut down Instagram monitoring project after threats from Facebook
Digital platforms play an ever-increasing role in structuring and influencing public debate. Civil society watchdogs, researchers and journalists need to be able to hold them to account. But Facebook is increasingly fighting those who try. It shut down New York University’s Ad Observatory in August, and went after AlgorithmWatch, too.
Read more
Twitter's image cropping algorithm has been accused of racial bias. An experiment by students at Bern University of Applied Sciences shows that the issue might have been fixed., 12 March 2021
Twitter apparently fixed their picture cropping
Read more
Racial Health Bias, 3 December 2020
Health algorithms discriminate against Black patients, also in Switzerland
Algorithms used to assess kidney function or predict heart failure use race as a central criterion. There is no scientific basis to do so, and the results discriminate against Blacks.
Read more22 July 2020
Swiss police automated crime predictions but has little to show for it
A review of 3 automated systems in use by the Swiss police and judiciary reveals serious issues. Real-world effects are impossible to assess due to a lack of transparency.
Read more