Researchers from the IKMB hosted the workshop "Algorithmic Gatekeepers: Investigating Search Engine Bias in Swiss Direct Democracy" in Grindelwald, Switzerland. It was organized by PhD students, Victoria Vziatysheva and Vihang Jumle, Dr. Mykola Makhortykh and scientific programmer Maryna Sydorova as part of the SNSF-funded project "Algorithm audit of the impact of user- and system-side factors on web search bias in the context of federal popular votes in Switzerland".
The workshop was attended by scholars and practitioners from leading European institutions, including the University of Amsterdam, the University of Konstanz, the University of Zurich, BAKOM, the Weizenbaum Institute in Berlin, and the Leibniz Institute for Media Research | Hans Bredow Institute (HBI).
During the workshop, the IKMB researchers presented the intermediate results of the project and received feedback from the project partners. Participants also exchanged ideas on the future of algorithm and AI research, brainstormed new research questions and designs, and identified critical gaps in studies of the role of search engines and AI chatbots in the distribution of political information.
For more information about the project, visit the project website: https://www.searchforbias.ch/
