Machine Bias

Investigating Algorithmic Injustice

Investigating algorithmic injustice and the formulas that influence our lives.

Impact of Our Reporting

Facebook Finally Agrees to Eliminate Tool That Enabled Discriminatory Advertising

by Ariana Tobin and Ava Kofman

June 22, 2022, 4:30 pm EDT

Employers Used Facebook to Keep Women and Older Workers From Seeing Job Ads. The Federal Government Thinks That’s Illegal.

by Ariana Tobin

September 24, 2019, 9:28 pm EDT

Facebook Won’t Let Employers, Landlords or Lenders Discriminate in Ads Anymore

by Jack Gillum and Ariana Tobin

March 19, 2019, 2:00 pm EDT

Besieged Facebook Says New Ad Limits Aren’t Response to Lawsuits

by Ariana Tobin and Jeremy B. Merrill

August 23, 2018, 12:48 pm EDT

Fair Housing Groups Sue Facebook for Allowing Discrimination in Housing Ads

by Julia Angwin and Ariana Tobin

March 27, 2018, 10:00 pm EDT

Congressman’s Bill Would Force Trump Administration to Fulfill Pledge to Study Racial Disparities in Auto Insurance Pricing

by Julia Angwin

February 1, 2018, 5:00 am EST

AARP and Key Senators Urge Companies to End Age Bias in Recruiting on Facebook

by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries

January 8, 2018, 8:00 am EST

New York City Moves to Create Accountability for Algorithms

by Lauren Kirchner

December 18, 2017, 12:08 pm EST

Facebook to Temporarily Block Advertisers From Excluding Audiences by Race

by Julia Angwin

November 29, 2017, 2:00 pm EST

Federal Judge Unseals New York Crime Lab’s Software for Analyzing DNA Evidence

by Lauren Kirchner

October 20, 2017, 8:00 am EDT

Facebook Moves to Prevent Advertisers From Targeting Haters

by Daniel Golden

September 15, 2017, 1:00 pm EDT

California to Investigate Racial Discrimination in Auto Insurance Premiums

by Julia Angwin

May 19, 2017, 5:00 am EDT

Lawmakers Seek Stronger Monitoring of Racial Disparities in Car Insurance Premiums

by Lauren Kirchner

April 26, 2017, 11:21 am EDT

67 stories published since 2015

Facebook Ads Can Still Discriminate Against Women and Older Workers, Despite a Civil Rights Settlement

by Ava Kofman and Ariana Tobin

December 13, 2019, 5:00 am EST
New York Is Investigating Whether Facebook Lets Advertisers Discriminate

by Ariana Tobin

July 5, 2019, 3:37 pm EDT
HUD Sues Facebook Over Housing Discrimination and Says the Company’s Algorithms Have Made the Problem Worse

by Ariana Tobin

March 28, 2019, 1:18 pm EDT
We Have Some Follow-Ups for Facebook — And We Want Your Help

by Ariana Tobin, Jeremy B. Merrill, Lucas Waldron and Terry Parris Jr.

April 10, 2018, 11:13 pm EDT
I Approved This Facebook Message — But You Don’t Know That

by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries

February 13, 2018, 5:00 am EST
Outlets in Eight Countries Are Using Our Tool to Monitor Political Ads on Facebook

by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries

February 8, 2018, 5:00 am EST
Facebook’s Experiment in Ad Transparency Is Like Playing Hide And Seek

by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries

January 31, 2018, 5:00 am EST
What Does Facebook Consider Hate Speech?

by Madeleine Varner, Ariana Tobin, Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson

December 28, 2017, 5:53 pm EST
Facebook’s Uneven Enforcement of Hate Speech Rules Allows Vile Posts to Stay Up

by Ariana Tobin, Madeleine Varner and Julia Angwin

December 28, 2017, 5:53 pm EST
Dozens of Companies Are Using Facebook to Exclude Older Workers From Job Ads

by Julia Angwin, ProPublica, Noam Scheiber, The New York Times, and Ariana Tobin, ProPublica

December 20, 2017, 5:45 pm EST
These Are the Job Ads You Can’t See on Facebook If You’re Older

by Jeff Larson, Madeleine Varner, Ariana Tobin and Julia Angwin, ProPublica, and Noam Scheiber, The New York Times

December 20, 2017, 5:44 pm EST
Facebook Allowed Political Ads That Were Actually Scams and Malware

by Jennifer Valentino-DeVries, Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin

December 5, 2017, 8:00 am EST
Facebook (Still) Letting Housing Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

by Julia Angwin, Ariana Tobin and Madeleine Varner

November 21, 2017, 1:23 pm EST
Facebook Allowed Questionable Ads in German Election Despite Warnings

by Stefanie Dodt, special to ProPublica, Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin, ProPublica

October 18, 2017, 1:20 pm EDT
German Political Ads Collected From Facebook

by Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin

October 18, 2017, 1:19 pm EDT
Putting Crime Scene DNA Analysis on Trial

by Lauren Kirchner

October 11, 2017, 8:00 am EDT
ProPublica Seeks Source Code for New York City’s Disputed DNA Software

by Lauren Kirchner

September 25, 2017, 7:54 pm EDT
Facebook Enabled Advertisers to Reach ‘Jew Haters’

by Julia Angwin, Madeleine Varner and Ariana Tobin

September 14, 2017, 4:00 pm EDT
Help Us Monitor Political Ads Online

by Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson

September 7, 2017, 10:00 am EDT
The Big Problems with Testing Tiny Bits of DNA

by Lucas Waldron

September 4, 2017, 6:00 pm EDT
Thousands of Criminal Cases in New York Relied on Disputed DNA Testing Techniques

by Lauren Kirchner

September 4, 2017, 6:00 pm EDT
Have You Experienced Hate Speech on Facebook? We Want To Hear From You.

by Julia Angwin, Ariana Tobin, and Madeleine Varner

August 29, 2017, 10:05 am EDT
Despite Disavowals, Leading Tech Companies Help Extremist Sites Monetize Hate

by Julia Angwin, Jeff Larson, Madeleine Varner, and Lauren Kirchner

August 19, 2017, 1:45 pm EDT
How We Investigated Technology Companies Supporting Hate Sites

by Jeff Larson and Madeleine Varner

August 19, 2017, 1:44 pm EDT
Facebook’s Secret Censorship Rules Protect White Men From Hate Speech But Not Black Children

by Julia Angwin, ProPublica, and Hannes Grassegger, special to ProPublica

June 28, 2017, 5:00 am EDT
The Car Insurance Industry Attacks Our Story. Here’s Our Response.

ProPublica

April 7, 2017, 2:00 pm EDT
How We Examined Racial Discrimination in Auto Insurance Prices

by Jeff Larson, Julia Angwin, Lauren Kirchner, Surya Mattu and Dina Haner, Michael Saccucci, Keith Newsom-Stewart, Andrew Cohen, Martin Romm for Consumer Reports

April 5, 2017, 4:58 pm EDT
Chicago Area Disparities in Car Insurance Premiums

by Al Shaw, Jeff Larson and Julia Angwin

April 5, 2017, 4:59 am EDT
Minority Neighborhoods Pay Higher Car Insurance Premiums Than White Areas With the Same Risk

by Julia Angwin, Lauren Kirchner, Surya Mattu

April 4, 2017, 5:00 am EDT
Bias in Criminal Risk Scores Is Mathematically Inevitable, Researchers Say

by Julia Angwin and Jeff Larson

December 30, 2016, 4:44 pm EST
Facebook Doesn’t Tell Users Everything It Really Knows About Them

by Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Terry Parris Jr.

December 27, 2016, 9:00 am EST
Facebook Says it Will Stop Allowing Some Advertisers to Exclude Users by Race

by Julia Angwin

November 11, 2016, 10:00 am EST
Where Traditional DNA Testing Fails, Algorithms Take Over

by Lauren Kirchner

November 4, 2016, 8:00 am EDT
Facebook Lets Advertisers Exclude Users by Race

by Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr.

October 28, 2016, 1:00 pm EDT
Breaking the Black Box: How Machines Learn to Be Racist

Jeff Larson, Julia Angwin and Terry Parris Jr.

October 19, 2016, 8:00 am EDT
Breaking the Black Box: When Machines Learn by Experimenting on Us

Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Terry Parris Jr.

October 12, 2016, 8:00 am EDT
When Algorithms Decide What You Pay

Julia Angwin, Surya Mattu and Terry Parris Jr.

October 5, 2016, 8:00 am EDT