Throttled visibility
Posts on queer topics suddenly reach far fewer people, although nothing else has changed.
WHEN THE
ALGORITHM
DOESN'T SEE YOU.
Platforms throttle, delete, distort. We document, push back and change things. Here you learn to spot bias, report incidents and find templates that work.
01 / WHAT IS ALGORITHMIC BIAS?
Algorithms are not neutral. They reflect the data they were trained on and the assumptions of the people who build them.
For queer people that means content is more often mislabelled, harder to find and removed faster. Often there is no malice behind it, just optimisation for clicks and moderation models trained on one-sided examples. For those affected, that makes no difference.
This is neither chance nor an isolated case. It is a design decision, and design decisions can be changed.
REMEMBERNOT A BUG.
NOT A BUG.
A
DECISION.
If you are not on the team, you do not show up in the test cases. If you do not show up in the test cases, you fall through the cracks.
More in the AI ethics module ↗02 / HOW YOU CAN TELL
False flags
Education, art or personal stories are removed as "offensive" or "hate speech" while actual hate stays up.
Invisible hashtags
Terms like #lesbian or #trans return hardly any results or are suppressed in autocomplete.
Demonetisation
Ad revenue disappears as soon as certain queer keywords appear in the title.
Misgendering by AI
Facial recognition and image generators reflect one-sided training data and misclassify trans and non-binary people.
Uneven enforcement
Community guidelines are enforced more or less strictly depending on who posts.
03 / YOUR RIGHTS IN THE EU
DIGITAL SERVICES ACTYOU DON'T
YOU DON'T
HAVE TO
ACCEPT THIS.
Since 2024 the Digital Services Act has applied to all online platforms in the EU. It gives you concrete tools against arbitrary moderation.
Demand a reason
If a large platform removes your content or restricts your account, the Digital Services Act requires it to give you a reason: what, why, and on what basis.
Appeal internally
Platforms must offer a free internal complaints process. Always use it first and keep a copy of the reply.
Out-of-court settlement
If that does not help, you can turn to a certified out-of-court dispute settlement body. In Germany, for example, User Rights in Berlin is certified.
Involve the regulator
If a platform systematically breaches the DSA, in Germany the Federal Network Agency (Bundesnetzagentur) is responsible as Digital Services Coordinator. Other EU countries have their own coordinator.
Not legal advice. For legal steps, an advice centre or a lawyer can help. For hate and threats you can also report to the police.
04 / REPORT AN INCIDENT
Every report counts.
Individual cases can be explained away; patterns cannot. Your report helps us collect cases, make them visible and pass them on to press, researchers and regulators, anonymised of course.
TIP
Take dated screenshots, save links and note the platform's stated reason. The more precise, the stronger.
Thank you. Your report has arrived.
It helps make patterns visible. That matters.
05 / TEMPLATES FOR APPEALS
Appeal against a removal
When your content was wrongly flagged as hate speech or offensive.
Dear moderation team, my post on [topic] from [date] was removed as [platform's stated reason]. It contained no insults and no attacks, but a personal experience as a queer person. I am appealing this decision through your internal complaint-handling system under Art. 20 of the Digital Services Act and request a review by a human and the restoration of the post. Kind regards, [name/profile]
Complaint about throttling
When your reach drops noticeably after queer posts.
Dear Sir or Madam, since [date] the reach of my account [profile] has dropped significantly after posts on queer topics. I attach screenshots and figures documenting this. Please tell me whether my account or individual posts have had their visibility restricted and, if so, provide a statement of reasons under Art. 17 of the Digital Services Act. Kind regards, [name]
Complaint to a dispute settlement body
When the platform does not respond, or responds inadequately.
Dear Sir or Madam, I am requesting out-of-court dispute settlement under Art. 21 of the Digital Services Act against [platform]. My content was removed on [date] and my internal appeal of [date] was unsuccessful. Comparable content without a queer context was not removed. I attach evidence and the correspondence so far. Kind regards, [name, contact]
Replace the details in square brackets. Never send a template without checking it; every situation is different.
VISIBILITY
IS NO
ACCIDENT.
Visibility is programmed. So it can also be demanded. Together, loudly and with evidence.
AI + Queer ↗