Shocking! Algorithms of online platforms maximise profits from hateful digital content

Business models driving online platforms must be fixed as algorithms are being designed to maximise profits from hateful and harmful content, FTC Commisioner Rohit Chopra said on Thursday. Speaking here at a WEF 2020 session on safeguarding digital space, Chopra said platforms benefit from some of this content and the advertising business models they are built on means the thirst for data is unquenchable.

“They want to monetise user behaviour,” he said. Some experts opine that digital businesses are themselves struggling to fight harmful content, from the spread of hate speech to threats to children’s safety.

Joanna Rubinstein, President and CEO of the World Childhood Foundation said the problem of child sexual abuse online is growing. “Every device is a camera, every child can take pictures of themselves. One of the challenges is identifying pictures and taking them offline,” she said.