Algorithmic Amplification and the Right to Reach

Abstract

Speaker: Étienne Brown , San José State University Chair: Jonathan Seglow, Royal Holloway, University of London On social media platforms, speech is distributed by algorithmic recommender; systems that amplify content. Such systems can prevent users from being heard without, strictly speaking, censoring them. While debates on free speech have traditionally focused on censorship, less philosophical attention has been paid to this issue. If social media users have a claim against censorship, do they also have a claim to amplification? This paper argues that they do. Specifically, I contend that social media users have a moral right to be provided with an equal opportunity to reach others in the digital public sphere. In my view, such a right is grounded in the same normative interests which count in favour of granting people a right to free speech in the first place. I also suggest that this right is currently infringed upon, and that mainstream social media platforms can reasonably be burdened with the task of implementing measures that would temper inequalities of reach. I end with a survey of three such measures – floors, ceilings, and affirmative amplification – as well as a discussion of likely objections.