Ever notice how on some social platforms like Twitter or Instagram that you yourself are mysteriously unable to crop your display images on your own? That’s because Twitter prefers to let their algorithms make the decision. Over the weekend users on Twitter discovered the surprising dangers of letting algorithms crop your own images.

Education tech researcher Colin Madland drew attention to the issue while speaking out about how the video-calling program Zoom, often crops the head out of his black person coworker while on calls.

Geez…any guesses why @Twitter defaulted to show only the right side of the picture on mobile? pic.twitter.com/UYL7N3XG9k

— Colin Madland (@colinmadland) September 19, 2020

It didn’t take long for Madland and other users to discover that Twitter’s AIs use discriminatory equations to prioritize certain faces as well. In short, the social platform’s AIs prefer white faces over Black ones.

In response to the discoveries, a Twitter spokesperson acknowledged that the company was looking into the issue “Our team did test for bias before shipping the model and did not find evidence of racial or gender bias in our testing. But it’s clear from these examples that we’ve got more analysis to do. We’re looking into this and will continue to share what we learn and what actions we take,” they stated.

Of course, Madland’s discovery is nothing new. In 2019, test results from the National Institute of Standards and Technology revealed that some of the strongest algorithms online were much more likely to confuse the faces of Black women than those of white women, or Black or white men. “The NIST test challenged algorithms to verify that two photos showed the same face, similar to how a border agent would check passports,” Wired points out. “At sensitivity settings where Idemia’s algorithms falsely matched different white women’s faces at a rate of one in 10,000, it falsely matched black women’s faces about once in 1,000—10 times more frequently. A one in 10,000 false match rate is often used to evaluate facial recognition systems.”

Still, it didn’t take long for users on the platform to ask what other physical preferences Twitter has.

Turns out the AIs prefer Ted Cruz with large anime breasts over a normal-looking Ted Cruz.

Testing something. pic.twitter.com/qXdYzM41PQ

— JeffFromRegina🍁 (@JeffFromRegina) September 21, 2020

The user who tested the image of Cruz, found that Twitter’s algorithm on the back end selected what part of the picture it would showcase in the preview and ultimately chose both images of Cruz with a large anime chest.

It’s nothing new that Twitter has its massive problems.

Just testing something pic.twitter.com/VyJXJRGyEN

— Hunter Penn (@hunter_penn_h) September 21, 2020

For a platform that so controls and oversees so much of what we consume and how we now operate, it’s scary to know how Twitter chooses to display people with different skin tones. The round of jokes and Twitter experiments by users has only revived concerns on how “learning” computer algorithms fuel real-world biases like racism and sexism.

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Cardi B and her sister are being sued for defamation of character after a viral video taken by Hennessy Carolina Almánzar. The video shows two men, one wearing a MAGA hat, and one woman telling Hennessy to move her car, which is parked on the beach.

Earlier this month, Cardi B shared a video taken by her sister showing a confrontation over where a car was parked.

You wanna know why joe gotta talk to me Candice cause I have the #1 song & yet my sister can’t go to the beach in the Hampton’s wit out trump supporters harassing cause they were by themselves & Santa Claus was harassing my sis GF all because they are a Afro/Hispanic gay couple https://t.co/OLQX2mrzbp pic.twitter.com/ISfJStODme

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) September 6, 2020

Cardi B, who is notorious for having widely broadcast Twitter feuds with people, posted the video in response to a tweet from Candace Owens. Owens is a controversial conservative figure whose brand is all about shock and awe. Owens famously said she thinks it would be okay if “Hitler just wanted to make Germany great and have things run well.”

Immediately, there was skepticism about the incident since the video starts during the confrontation.

Nooooo that big pink man was harassing my sister girlfriend to move her car for no reason and then my sister came there had a back and forth and they stood quit when she Wip that phone out .They was harassing 2 Women ! Ya going to catch the right fuckin one ! https://t.co/xcH1PvGVAB pic.twitter.com/rLym9O2yIU

— iamcardib (@iamcardib) September 6, 2020

Responding to nay-sayers, Cardi B shared a video of her sisters voice messages sent to her IG DMs. Hennessy claims in the messages that the white men were the aggressors against her and her girlfriend while they were on the beach.

The videos did not convince some people that her sister wasn’t in the wrong.

Lots of accusations with not any actual proof that is what happened. She probably was harassing them, but spin it how you wish. Are you friends with Jussie Smollett?

— Buzz Patterson for Congress (CA-7) (@BuzzPatterson) September 6, 2020

Cardi B’s tweet is filled with responses questioning the video and denying its authenticity. The argument immediately turned political because of the mention of Trump and Trump supporters. The conversation on Twitter is divided among people who believe Cardi B and her sister and those who don’t.

Now, Cardi B and Hennessy are being sued by the beachgoers in the video.

So sick of attacks on lgbtq and poc 🙄

— 🍍Piña Colada🍹 (@MoonlightSponge) September 7, 2020

“These peaceful Suffolk County residents were quietly enjoying a Sunday at the Smith Point beach with their families, when rap celebrity Hennessy Carolina suddenly approached them, raging, spitting, insulting, assaulting, defaming and threatening them, all the while videotaping them because one of them wore a MAGA hat,” beachgoers’ Miller Place attorney John Ray said, according to ABC7NYC.

The lawsuit claims defamation of character because of the language used in the video against them.

Damn, that's unacceptable. They should be welcome and feel safe wherever they choose to go. Supposed to be a free country. I hope people understand how that affects generations.

— Camielle Cookie Parent 🌠 (@CookieParent) September 6, 2020

According to Billboard, plaintiffs Peter Caliendo, Pauline Caliendo, and Manuel Alarcon claim that they had approached Hennessy and her girlfriend, Michelle Diaz, blocked them in with how she parked her car. The lawsuit states that the men asked for Diaz to move her car and that’s when Hennessy started to record the video and hurl names and insults at them.

This story is developing and mitú will be updating as the story unfolds.

READ: Cardi B Is, Once Again, Fed Up With Trolls Trying to Body Shame Her With Edited Photos

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