April, 20 2021, 12:00am EDT
For Immediate Release
Contact:
Email:,press@lawyerscommittee.org
FTC Declares Racially Biased Algorithms in Artificial Intelligence Unfair and Deceptive, Prohibited by Law
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published guidance to businesses Monday that states definitively that if a business uses a discriminatory algorithm to make automated decisions, they may be violating federal law. The U.S.
WASHINGTON
The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) published guidance to businesses Monday that states definitively that if a business uses a discriminatory algorithm to make automated decisions, they may be violating federal law. The U.S. Senate Commerce Committee is conducting an FTC oversight hearing Tuesday. The following is a statement from David Brody, senior counsel and senior fellow for Privacy and Technology at the Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law:
"This is a big and positive step forward by the FTC. We need the FTC and other federal agencies to take enforcement actions to stop discriminatory uses of artificial intelligence that deny equal opportunity to jobs, housing, education, or banking. Machine-learning algorithms are not blind or neutral. If the societal data used to train a model is the product of generations of unjust discrimination, that model will learn to repeat and amplify discrimination."
Background:
The FTC highlighted how superficially 'neutral' AI can produce and reinforce discrimination on the basis of protected characteristics like race, religion, or sex. The FTC described such AI models as "digital redlining" and said it "can challenge the use of that model as unfair." The FTC also said that an AI developer could be liable for deceptive trade practices if they build their product with data that lacks racial or gender diversity, yet claim it produces unbiased outcomes. "The FTC Act prohibits unfair or deceptive practices. That would include the sale or use of - for example - racially biased algorithms," the FTC wrote.
The Lawyers' Committee is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to enlist the private bar's leadership and resources in combating racial discrimination and the resulting inequality of opportunity - work that continues to be vital today.
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Dec 10, 2024
Republican U.S. Sen. Tom Cotton of Arkansas on Tuesday again blocked the passage of House-approved bipartisan legislation meant to shield journalists and telecommunications companies from being compelled to disclose sources and other information to federal authorities.
Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Ore.) brought the Protect Reporters from Exploitative State Spying (PRESS) Act—which would prohibit the federal government from forcing journalists and telecom companies to disclose certain information, with exceptions for terroristic or violent threats—for a unanimous consent vote.
Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) argued Tuesday that passing the PRESS Act is "more important now than ever before when we've heard some in the previous administration talk about going after the press in one way or another," a reference to Republican President-elect Donald Trump's threats to jail journalists who refuse to reveal the sources of leaks. Trump, who has referred to the press as the "enemy of the people," repeatedly urged Senate Republicans to "kill this bill."
Cotton, who blocked a vote on the legislation in December 2022, again objected to the bill, a move that thwarted its speedy passage. The Republican called the legislation a "threat to national security" and "the biggest giveaway to the liberal press in American history."
The advocacy group Defending Rights and Dissent lamented that "Congress has abdicated their responsibility to take substantive steps to protect the constitutional right to a free press."
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"Today's decision is a major win for shoppers and grocery workers. Families have been paying the price of unchecked corporate power in the food and grocery sector, and further consolidation would only worsen this crisis," declared Groundwork Collaborative executive director Lindsay Owens in a statement.
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Trump has picked Harmeet Dhillon as Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. She has stated that it must be "made unsafe" for hospitals to provide trans care, and frequently shares Libs of TikTok posts. She intends to target trans people in blue states. Subscribe to support my journalism.
[image or embed]
— Erin Reed (@erininthemorning.com) December 10, 2024 at 8:14 AM
Reed continued:
Dhillon's most prominent work includes founding the Center for American Liberty, a legal organization that focuses heavily on anti-transgender cases in blue states. The organization's "featured cases" section highlights several lawsuits, such as Chloe Cole's case against Kaiser Permanente; a lawsuit challenging a Colorado school's use of a transgender student's preferred name; a case against a California school district seeking to implement policies that would forcibly out transgender students; and a lawsuit against Vermont for denying a foster care license to a family unwilling to comply with nondiscrimination policies regarding transgender youth.
Reed also highlighted Dhillon's attacks on state laws protecting transgender people, as well as her expression of "extreme anti-trans views" on social media—including calling gender-affirming healthcare for trans children "child abuse."
Last year, The Guardian's Jason Wilson reported that the Center for American Liberty made a six-figure payment to a public relations firm that represented Dhillion in both "her capacity as head of her own for-profit law firm and Republican activist."
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