Your Algorithm Isn't Neutral: How Digital Platforms Silence Dissent

Your algorithm isn't neutral; it's making choices about whose voice matters.

Every day, platforms decide which posts get seen by thousands and which disappear into the void. These aren't random decisions. The same systems that amplify some voices while suppressing others mirror the unjust dynamics we see every day in our workplaces and communities.

Some people post expecting their content will reach their audience, while others have learned their voices will be shadow-banned, flagged, or ignored by the very systems designed to connect us.

If your content is reaching your audience, please remember that some of the most insightful voices on this platform will continue to be silenced unless we fight to hear them:

✊ Use your platform to lift up those who are silenced.
✊ Amplify content that exposes uncomfortable truths.
✊ Stop centering the same voices over and over.
✊ Question whose voices are missing from important conversations--and then include them.

In a moment when Americans are taking to the streets to defend democracy, we can't ignore how digital platforms silence dissent. Together, we can disrupt these dangerous patterns one courageous conversation at a time.

ID: Penn State Harrisburg, “Silenced Voices,” 2021.