Bipartisan bills want to break the algorithm-stranglehold of social platforms

The Future. The House of Representatives and the Senate have introduced complementary bills to force social platforms to offer algorithm-less versions of their services. If the bills become law, it could open the door to users curating their online experience to how they see fit.

Choose-your-own-adventure
Congressional representatives from both sides of the aisle are done with algorithms dictating user experience on social platforms.

• In the House, the Filter Bubble Transparency Act was introduced, which would force social platforms to make available a version of the service that does not use “opaque algorithms” driven by personal data.
• It’s sponsored by Representatives Ken Buck (R-Colo.), David Cicilline (D-R.I.), Lori Trahan (D-Mass.), and Burgess Owens (R-Utah).
• The bipartisan Senate version of the bill was sponsored by Republican Senator John Thune (R-S.D.).

The proposed bills would exempt companies with less than 500 employees, make less than $50 million in annual revenue, and have fewer than a million users… making it crystal clear which platforms these bills are aimed at.

Manipulation, Inc.
Decoupling social platforms from their algorithms has quickly become a popular proposed solution to how these services create echo chambers, fuel extremism, and step on user privacy. Representative Buck and Senator Thune announced that going forward; they would be working together on tackling these issues and other antitrust concerns — showing that stripping power from tech is one of the most unifying subjects on Capitol Hill.

For what it’s worth, some platforms are already seeing the anti-algorithm writing on the wall. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey wants to build a marketplace where people can choose what algorithm they want to be controlled by. In other words, “pick your poison.”