[Air-L] Call for Contributions 13th-14th September 2024 Search Engines and Ethics Event

[Rosie Graham]

Dear Association of Internet Researchers,

I hope this email finds you well.

I’m writing to announce that the submission deadline for the two-day conference on Search Engine Ethics has been extended by a week to the 29th of July. A link to an updated call for papers with more information, including a confirmed location can be found here https://x.com/rosienvgraham/status/1813578889752637512. Since the initial announcement, I’ve been successfully awarded a funding bid to cover the event so we’ll be in a really lovely venue with (much nicer) refreshments and food provided throughout both days.

Please do share the CFP with colleagues who might be interested, please drop me an email if you’d like the CFP as an attachment for sharing, as listserv does not allow attachments.

Looking forward to reading your abstract and seeing as many of you who are able to attend in September,

All the best,

Rosie


From: Rosie Graham (English Literature) <r.graham at bham.ac.uk>
Date: Monday, 17 June 2024 at 15:57
To: air-l at listserv.aoir.org <air-l at listserv.aoir.org>
Subject: Call for Contributions 13th-14th September 2024 Search Engines and Ethics Event
Dear Association of Internet Researchers,

Calling all researchers of Search Engines and Ethics. I am delighted to invite you to a two-day event at The University of Birmingham in September 2024.



Call for Contributions

Following the success of previous events in Lund, Sweden; Vienna, Austria; and Hamburg, Germany, on behalf of the European Search Engine Research Network, I’m delighted to invite you to attend the 4th annual conference of the network, to be held at The University of Birmingham, UK<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/>  13th - 14th September 2024.
Programme Overview
The event will bring together those of us who have previously met in Hamburg, Vienna and Lund, with key members of the Open Search Foundation’s<https://opensearchfoundation.org/en/> (OSF) ethics working group, members of the Centre for Digital Cultures<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/edacs/departments/english/research/centres/digital-cultures/staff> here at Birmingham, as well as invited scholars working in search engine studies.

Day one of the event will feature 15-20-minute papers on “What would an ethical search engine look like?” introducing updates on the topic of search engines and ethics by participants.

Day two will be focused on developing two new collaborative projects “The Ethical Interface” and the “Search Engine Ethics Encyclopaedia and Database” focused on communicating the big questions of search engine ethics to a public audience. We are currently building an interactive browser interface to help non-academics consider the ethical aspects of search engines, as well as developing an encyclopaedia of search engine ethics.

We encourage all participants to attend both days.

We are seeking contributions and involvement for the “The Ethical Interface” and the “Search Engine Ethics Encyclopaedia and Database” projects so if you can’t make our meeting in September but would like to stay in the loop about these projects, please let me know and we can add you to our list of potential partners.
Call for Papers

If you would like to give a paper one day one, please submit a 500-word abstract by 22nd July to Rosie Graham at R.Graham at bham.ac.uk<mailto:R.Graham at bham.ac.uk> see details below. Successful papers will be confirmed in early August.
CFP: “What would an ethical search engine look like?”
We welcome 500-word (excluding bibliography) abstract submissions on topics including, but not limited to, those listed below:


  *   Key ethical limitations of search engines, the impact that these have on individuals, communities or wider society, and what might be done about them.
  *   Alternative models for organising and/or searching the web.
  *   Is an ideal search engine possible, and what would it look like?
  *   Reports on ongoing initiatives, non-profits, or activism for the future of search engines.
  *   Search engine results for controversial or contested issues, for example, conflict, migration, marginalisation, criminal justice, politics, religion, and the climate crisis.
  *   The ethics of the advertising model and other economic principles that currently support search engines, including SEO, and surveillance capitalism. Is another model possible?
  *   The ethical aspects of Google’s market domination and antitrust laws.
  *   Do search engines have ethical duties or responsibilities to users and/or society?
  *   Search engines and sustainability.
  *   Bias, non-Western perspectives, and decolonialisation.
  *   Personalisation and localisation for an increasingly globalized world
  *   Search engines and education: the ethics of truth, justice and trustworthiness.
  *   The regulation of search engines: ethical, legal, and/or social approaches.
  *   Search engines and freedoms: the right to information, the right to be forgotten, the right to data collection, the right to opt-out, and the right to privacy.
  *   What is fairness in the context of search engines: discrimination, social justice, and normativity.
  *   Search engines and openness. What is transparency in the context of algorithms and machine learning?
  *   Search engines and future technologies, including Large Language Models and AI. How will new technological methods shift current ethical questions and debates? Where do you see questions of ethics and search engines heading in the future?

Please feel free to circulate this CFP to your relevant networks.



Preliminary Schedule 13th-14th September 2024
Day One: Papers and Plenary

  *   15-20-minute papers on “What would an ethical search engine look like?”
  *   Group plenary and discussion.
  *   Chance to continue conversations over dinner.

Day Two: Putting Our Ethical Ideas into Practice

  *   Project 1:  "The Ethical Interface" – An introduction to a new collaborative project to build a Chrome extension that will interactively highlight ethical issues to users while they are using Google’s search engine.
  *   Project 2: Search Engine Ethics Encyclopaedia and Database (SEEED) will create a database of key issues, topics, and questions, collaboratively written by a range of different experts, specifically for a public audience.
  *   Workshop to collaborate on the design and development of these collaborative tools, which would represent an output of our group.
  *   Wrap up and mapping out the next steps for the project.

Travel information
The event will be held on the Edgbaston campus<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/contact/directions> of the University of Birmingham.
By Rail
Most cross-country services to Birmingham arrive at New Street Station. Up to six trains an hour depart for the University on the cross-city line (ten minutes to University station, final destination Longbridge or Redditch). The centre of the main campus is a five-minute walk from University Station.
By Air
Birmingham International Airport has direct flights from locations in the UK, as well as from the USA, Canada, Europe and the Middle East. If you are arriving in London, there is a frequent train service from London Euston railway station to New Street Station (journey time around 1 hour 30 minutes).
Contact Information
I look forward to welcoming you to Birmingham in the fall. If you have any queries or questions, please do email me at R.Graham at bham.ac.uk<mailto:R.Graham at bham.ac.uk>

With all best wishes,

Dr Rosie Graham


Rosie Graham (she/her)
Lecturer in Contemporary Literature and the Digital<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/staff/profiles/english/graham-rosie>
Co-Director of the Centre for Digital Cultures<https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/schools/edacs/departments/english/research/centres/digital-cultures>