{"id":2799,"date":"2021-02-03T15:13:20","date_gmt":"2021-02-03T15:13:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thenextweb.com\/?p=1337354"},"modified":"2021-02-03T15:13:20","modified_gmt":"2021-02-03T15:13:20","slug":"amazons-search-algorithm-spreads-vaccine-disinformation-study-finds","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/?p=2799","title":{"rendered":"Amazon\u2019s search algorithm spreads vaccine disinformation, study finds"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Amazon\u2019s reputation for spreading health misinformation has led critics to call it<\/a> \u201ca dystopian bookstore.\u201d<\/p>\n

Their concerns have escalated since COVID-19 unleashed a wave of anti-vaccination zealots.<\/p>\n

According to a new study from the University of Washington, the world\u2019s leading online retailer is amplifying the hysteria.<\/p>\n

The researchers found that Amazon\u2019s search algorithm promotes books endorsing false claims about vaccines over those that debunk them.<\/p>\n

They also discovered a filter-bubble effect that leads users who engage with misinformative products to be recommended more of the same.<\/p>\n

The study describes Amazon\u2019s search results as \u201ca marketplace of multifaceted health misinformation\u201d and the platform\u2019s recommendations as \u201cproblematic echo chambers.\u201d<\/p>\n

[Read: How much does it cost to buy, own, and run an EV? It\u2019s not as much as you think<\/span><\/a>]<\/em><\/p>\n

The researchers first investigated the amount of misinformation returned by Amazon\u2019s algorithms.<\/p>\n

They tested a list of 48 search queries about 10 popular vaccine-related topics, such as \u201cHPV vaccine\u201d and \u201cimmunization,\u201d without logging into the platform.<\/p>\n

The results were then annotated as promoting, neutral, or debunking health misinformation.<\/p>\n

They found that products promoting misinformation consistently outperformed those that debunk false claims.<\/p>\n

Study authors Prerna Juneja and Tanu Mitra said over 10% of the results they received promoted misinformation health products.<\/p>\n

An echo chamber effect<\/h2>\n

The researchers also examined whether Amazon pushes users to more misinformation after they\u2019ve shown an interest in it.<\/p>\n

They did this by performing typical user actions, such as clicking on an item.<\/p>\n

They said this revealed evidence of a filter-bubble effect in Amazon\u2019s recommendations:<\/p>\n

\n

Just a single click on an anti-vaccine book could fill your homepage with several other similar anti-vaccine books. And if you proceed to add that book [to] your cart, Amazon again presents more anti-vaccine books, nudging you to purchase even more problematic content.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

The study authors describe this process as \u201d a problematic recommendation loop.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Figure
Credit: Prerna Juneja and Tanu Mitra<\/figcaption>
<\/i><\/a>From left to right: Amazon homepage recommendations;, pre-purchase recommendations displayed to users after adding a product to cart; product page recommendations.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The researchers suggest several ways that Amazon can tackle the problem: display informative links alongside the product listings, introduce bias indicators, and modify its algorithms and policies to stop promoting misinformative books.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is an urgent need for the platform to treat vaccine and other health-related topics differently and ensure high-quality searches and recommendations,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

You can read their full study paper here<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Published February 3, 2021 \u2014 15:13 UTC <\/p>\n

Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Amazon\u2019s reputation for spreading health misinformation has led critics to call it \u201ca dystopian bookstore.\u201d Their concerns have escalated since COVID-19 unleashed a wave of anti-vaccination zealots. According to a new study from the University…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2800,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2799"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2799\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2800"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2799"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2799"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.londonchiropracter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2799"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}