While algorithms have long been used to aid decision-making online and offline, recent developments such as widespread adoption of machine learning and an exponential increase in available data have created ever-more sophisticated and complex algorithmic decisions that impact our lives more deeply than ever before.

The Digital Platform Regulators Forum (DP-REG) has prepared this literature summary to outline its understanding of the harms and risks posed by some commonly used types of algorithms as at June 2023.

Concentrating on consumer/citizen use of digital platform services, the summary focuses on three topics relevant to intersecting priorities of DP-REG members: algorithms used in content moderation, recommender systems and targeted advertising.

This literature summary is the first output of Digital Platform Regulators Forum (DP-REG)’s joint work in exploring relevant digital platform technologies and their regulatory implications. Each DP-REG member is also separately considering more specific harms stemming from AI relevant to their respective mandates.