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Part of a series on Twitter / X. [View Related Entries]


Overview

Twitter Image Thumbnail Racial Bias Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding the Twitter image preview algorithm apparently selecting faces of Caucasian people over faces of people of other races for the thumbnail preview when the full image is too long or wide to be shown. Following the discovery of the apparent bias, multiple users posted tweets in which they tested the assumption.

Background

On September 18th, 2020, Twitter[1] user @colinmadland posted a tweet in which he shared a story that indicated an apparent bias towards Caucasian people in face recognition technology utilized by the video conferencing service Zoom (tweets shown below, left). In the thread, after attempting to upload evidence of the algorithm bias, @colinmadland pointed out[2] that the algorithm used by Twitter also showed the part of the image containing his photograph rather his colleague's as the thumbnail (tweet shown below, right). The tweet received overt 1,800 retweets and 18,800 likes in three days.

COLIA MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · Sep 18 A faculty member has been asking how to stop Zoom from removing his head when he uses a virtual background. We suggested the usual plain background, good lighting etc, but it didn't work. I was in a meeting with him today when I realized why it was happening. 27 27.9K 425 54K (OLIN MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · Sep 18 any guesses? 55 27 1.1K 7K (OLIA MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland 8:18 PM · Sep 18, 2020 · Twitter Web App
Colin Madland @colinmadland Geez.any guesses why @Twitter defaulted to show only the right side of the picture on mobile? 5:31 1 Like MADLAN Colin Madland @colinmadland 12m Replying to @colinmadland any guesses? ALT OLK MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · 12m ALT >

Developments

In the same thread, Twitter[3] user @NotAFile tested the assumption, with the Twitter algorithm selecting a photograph of a white man over a photograph of a black man three times out four attempted. One of the tweets[4] by @NotAFile received over 3,100 retweets and 8,000 likes (original image and tweet shown below, left). In the same thread, Twitter[5] Chief Design Offer Dantley Davis wrote "it's 100 percent our fault. No one should say otherwise. Now the next step is fixing it" (tweet shown below, right).

nota @NotAFile Replying to @taintedavenue @chochosmx and 2 others There you go 11:14 AM Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter Web App
Dantley @dantley Replying to @TheNotoriousRBF @adrian_cadem and 6 others It's 100% our fault. No one should say otherwise. Now the next step is fixing it. 5:32 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone

On September 19th, 2020, Twitter[6] user @bascule posted a two long images containing photographs of former US president Barack Obama and the US Senator Mitch McConnell, with the Twitter algorithm selecting the photograph of McConnel for the preview both times (original images and tweet shown below). The tweet received over 62,200 retweets and 192,900 likes in two days.

Tony "Abolish (Pol)ICE" Arcieri @bascule Trying a horrible experiment.. Which will the Twitter algorithm pick: Mitch McConnell or Barack Obama? 6:05 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter Web App

On the same day, Twitter[7] user @himhajria tweeted that stated that the algorithm used by Twitter is based on targeting parts of the image with the greatest brightness and color density (tweet shown below, left). The same was confirmed Twitter[8] CDO Dantley Davis (tweets shown below, right).

Him Gajria @himgajria - Sep 19 The algorithm is based on targeting parts of the image with the greatest brightness and colour density. If you're insinuating it's designed to be racist, you're wrong. 257 27 313 3.1К Him Gajria @himgajria Replying to @himgajria and @bascule More proof: 8:04 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone
Marco Rogers @polotek · Sep 19 JFC @jack nota @NotAFile · Sep 19 Replying to @taintedavenue @chochosmx and 2 others There you go 7 27 81 315 Dantley @dantley Replying to @polotek and @jack In this example it's the brighter background being used to make the cropping decision. If we stopped cropping photos this would go away, which is on the team's mind. 5:27 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone >

Parodies

The September 19th viral tweet by @bascule inspired multiple users to test the assumption, with users testing the algorithm with images of people, animals and fictional characters. For example, on September 20th, Twitter[9] user @_jsimonovski tested the assumption with images of The Simpsons characters Carl and Lenny. The tweet (shown below, left) received over 9,100 upvotes and 46,300 likes in one day. On the same day, Twitter[10] user @MarkEMarkAU made a test with images of a white and a black labrador, with the tweet gaining over 1,200 retweet and 6,800 likes in one days (shown below, right).

Jordan Simonovski @_jsimonovski I wonder if Twitter does this to fictional characters too. Lenny Carl CARL CARL 12:50 AM · Sep 20, 2020 · Twitter Web App
CARL
- MARK- @MarkEMarkAU Replying to @jsimonovski I tried it with dogs. Let's see. 5:45 AM Sep 20, 2020 · Twitter for Android

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – @colinmadland

[2] Twitter – @colinmadland

[3] Twitter – @NotAFile

[4] Twitter – @NotAFile

[5] Twitter – @dantley

[6] Twitter – @bascule

[7] Twitter – @himgajria

[8] Twitter – @dantley

[9] Twitter – @_jsimonovski

[10] Twitter – @MarkEMarkAU



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Which will the Twitter algorithm pick: Mitch McConnell or Barack Obama? and two pics of Mitch McConnell

Twitter Image Thumbnail Racial Bias Controversy

Part of a series on Twitter / X. [View Related Entries]

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Overview

Twitter Image Thumbnail Racial Bias Controversy refers to a controversy surrounding the Twitter image preview algorithm apparently selecting faces of Caucasian people over faces of people of other races for the thumbnail preview when the full image is too long or wide to be shown. Following the discovery of the apparent bias, multiple users posted tweets in which they tested the assumption.

Background

On September 18th, 2020, Twitter[1] user @colinmadland posted a tweet in which he shared a story that indicated an apparent bias towards Caucasian people in face recognition technology utilized by the video conferencing service Zoom (tweets shown below, left). In the thread, after attempting to upload evidence of the algorithm bias, @colinmadland pointed out[2] that the algorithm used by Twitter also showed the part of the image containing his photograph rather his colleague's as the thumbnail (tweet shown below, right). The tweet received overt 1,800 retweets and 18,800 likes in three days.


COLIA MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · Sep 18 A faculty member has been asking how to stop Zoom from removing his head when he uses a virtual background. We suggested the usual plain background, good lighting etc, but it didn't work. I was in a meeting with him today when I realized why it was happening. 27 27.9K 425 54K (OLIN MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · Sep 18 any guesses? 55 27 1.1K 7K (OLIA MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland 8:18 PM · Sep 18, 2020 · Twitter Web App Colin Madland @colinmadland Geez.any guesses why @Twitter defaulted to show only the right side of the picture on mobile? 5:31 1 Like MADLAN Colin Madland @colinmadland 12m Replying to @colinmadland any guesses? ALT OLK MADLAND Colin Madland @colinmadland · 12m ALT >

Developments

In the same thread, Twitter[3] user @NotAFile tested the assumption, with the Twitter algorithm selecting a photograph of a white man over a photograph of a black man three times out four attempted. One of the tweets[4] by @NotAFile received over 3,100 retweets and 8,000 likes (original image and tweet shown below, left). In the same thread, Twitter[5] Chief Design Offer Dantley Davis wrote "it's 100 percent our fault. No one should say otherwise. Now the next step is fixing it" (tweet shown below, right).


nota @NotAFile Replying to @taintedavenue @chochosmx and 2 others There you go 11:14 AM Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter Web App Dantley @dantley Replying to @TheNotoriousRBF @adrian_cadem and 6 others It's 100% our fault. No one should say otherwise. Now the next step is fixing it. 5:32 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone

On September 19th, 2020, Twitter[6] user @bascule posted a two long images containing photographs of former US president Barack Obama and the US Senator Mitch McConnell, with the Twitter algorithm selecting the photograph of McConnel for the preview both times (original images and tweet shown below). The tweet received over 62,200 retweets and 192,900 likes in two days.


Tony "Abolish (Pol)ICE" Arcieri @bascule Trying a horrible experiment.. Which will the Twitter algorithm pick: Mitch McConnell or Barack Obama? 6:05 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter Web App

On the same day, Twitter[7] user @himhajria tweeted that stated that the algorithm used by Twitter is based on targeting parts of the image with the greatest brightness and color density (tweet shown below, left). The same was confirmed Twitter[8] CDO Dantley Davis (tweets shown below, right).


Him Gajria @himgajria - Sep 19 The algorithm is based on targeting parts of the image with the greatest brightness and colour density. If you're insinuating it's designed to be racist, you're wrong. 257 27 313 3.1К Him Gajria @himgajria Replying to @himgajria and @bascule More proof: 8:04 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone Marco Rogers @polotek · Sep 19 JFC @jack nota @NotAFile · Sep 19 Replying to @taintedavenue @chochosmx and 2 others There you go 7 27 81 315 Dantley @dantley Replying to @polotek and @jack In this example it's the brighter background being used to make the cropping decision. If we stopped cropping photos this would go away, which is on the team's mind. 5:27 PM · Sep 19, 2020 · Twitter for iPhone >

Parodies

The September 19th viral tweet by @bascule inspired multiple users to test the assumption, with users testing the algorithm with images of people, animals and fictional characters. For example, on September 20th, Twitter[9] user @_jsimonovski tested the assumption with images of The Simpsons characters Carl and Lenny. The tweet (shown below, left) received over 9,100 upvotes and 46,300 likes in one day. On the same day, Twitter[10] user @MarkEMarkAU made a test with images of a white and a black labrador, with the tweet gaining over 1,200 retweet and 6,800 likes in one days (shown below, right).


Jordan Simonovski @_jsimonovski I wonder if Twitter does this to fictional characters too. Lenny Carl CARL CARL 12:50 AM · Sep 20, 2020 · Twitter Web App CARL - MARK- @MarkEMarkAU Replying to @jsimonovski I tried it with dogs. Let's see. 5:45 AM Sep 20, 2020 · Twitter for Android

Search Interest

External References

[1] Twitter – @colinmadland

[2] Twitter – @colinmadland

[3] Twitter – @NotAFile

[4] Twitter – @NotAFile

[5] Twitter – @dantley

[6] Twitter – @bascule

[7] Twitter – @himgajria

[8] Twitter – @dantley

[9] Twitter – @_jsimonovski

[10] Twitter – @MarkEMarkAU

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Top Comments

FanglyFish
FanglyFish

This seems to be a recurring issue for facial recognition tech at the moment. My understanding is darker skin = facial features have less contrast = more difficult for a computer to detect.

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