New Zealand – A new campaign created by the DDB Group is shedding light on the little known bias affecting women online and hopes to change that by prompting viewers to join them in correcting the internet.
To the question ‘Who has scored the most goals in international football?’, an internet search would say Cristiano Ronaldo, with a count of 118 international goals. Correct the Internet objects – it is in fact female player Christine Sinclair, with 190 goals. The campaign denounces the many similar inaccuracies, showing steep gender bias by shadowing the success of women athletes and putting the accomplishments of male sportsmen forward online.
‘Because the internet has learnt our bias, many of its search engine results are inconsistent, often favouring men, and change depending on who is searching,’ says Correct the Internet founding partner Rebecca Sowden. This is where Correct the Internet comes in. The ad refers viewers to an online tool they can use to report inconsistencies, encouraging small individual actions that could lead to a collective movement supporting the empowerment of women in sports and their representation in the media.
Strategic opportunity
Algorithmic and systemic biases are hard to reverse, but not impossible. Raising awareness and showing continuous commitment to disadvantaged communities is a good place to start, but providing the resources or tools to materialise your engagement is also crucial to achieve change
