Queering Algorithmic Governance: An Inquiry into Automation and Its Social Implications for Canada’s LGBTQ+ Communities

Project Lead: David Myles, McGill University

Steering Committee: Florence Millerand, UQAM

                                      Stefanie Duguay, Concordia University

Advisory Board: Carrie Rentschler, McGill University

                             Martin Blais, UQAM

The lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, and queer (LGBTQ+) communities have been early adopters of digital platforms, like YouTube, Twitter, and Instagram. In the past decade, these platforms have introduced new algorithms that oversee nearly all of our online activities, like online searches and content moderation. Platform algorithms are being increasingly criticized for reproducing sexual, racial, and gender biases through the decisions they automate. Yet, little is known about the specific challenges that platform algorithms pose for LGBTQ+ users. In this research, we leverage the expertise of key LGBTQ+ stakeholders (community representatives, developers, researchers, and policymakers) to identify and analyze the implications that platform algorithms raise for Canada’s LGBTQ+ communities, especially in terms of social justice and equity. By doing so, we seek to further highlight how digital technologies are never neutral but encoded with values that enact important power dynamics disproportionally affecting marginalized communities.

Research Outputs:

Myles, D., Duguay, S., & Echaiz, L.F. (2023). Mapping the social implications of platform algorithms for LGBTQ+ communities. Journal of Digital Social Research, 5(4), 1-30. doi.10.33621/jdsr.v5i4.162

Myles, D. & Duguay, S., Echaiz, L.F. (2022). Unpacking the social implications of AI-supported platform surveillance for the LGBTQ+ communities. 9th biennial Surveillance & Society conference, June 1-3, Surveillance Studies Network, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Rotterdam, The Netherlands.

Myles, D. & Duguay, S. (2022). In search of algorithmic fairness for LGBTQ+ platform users: A scoping review of the literature (work in progress). International Communication Association 72nd Annual Conference, May 26-30, Paris, France.