Google Expands Troll-Fighting Tool Amid Concerns of Racial Bias

A unit of Google dedicated to policy and ideas is pushing forward with a plan to tame toxic comments on the Internet--even as critics warn that its technology, which relies on AI-powered algorithms, can promote the sort of sexism and racism Google is trying to diminish. On Thursday, the unit known as Jigsaw announced a new community page where developers can contribute "hacks" to build out its comment-moderation tool. That tool, which is used by the likes of the New York Times and the Guardian, helps publishers moderate Internet comments at scale. The system, which depends on artificial intelligence, allowed the Times to expand the scope of its reader comments tenfold while still maintaining a civil discussion. Now, Jigsaw is posting code and reams of data on its new community page on the site GitHub in the hopes programmers will use it to build new features for its comment project.