The racial equality organization Color of Change has called on Google to allow independent auditors to investigate the company for possible discriminatory behavior.
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Color of Change is urging the giant company to undergo an audit regarding its management of racial equality after the removal of two women who led the company's Ethical AI team.
In a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai and other top executives, Color of Change said a public and independent audit would help the company better identify strengths and weaknesses related to “racial equality, civil rights, and anti-discrimination.”
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Racial tactics audits are conducted by third-party groups, which analyze companies' business models – from policies to products and services – to determine whether they cause, reinforce or perpetuate discrimination.
Color of Change, which successfully pushed other tech companies to allow these controls, also criticized YouTube for promoting various social media posts that were spread by white nationalists.
The initiative adds pressure on Google over how it handles allegations of harassment and racial justice issues, including critical research into AI bias and the proliferation of hate videos on YouTube.
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Alexandra Veitch, a public policy executive at YouTube, is set to testify Tuesday before a Senate Judiciary Committee subcommittee along with executives from Facebook and Twitter Inc. about how social media technology is shaping public debates.
The group met with the company repeatedly to discuss racial justice issues. It even requested a meeting with Pichai, which never happened, Color of Change president Rashad Robinson added.
In recent years, Color of Change and other civil rights groups have successfully pushed for independent racial discrimination audits at Facebook and Airbnb Inc.
Source of information: bnnbloomberg.ca
