Defined as a conceptual model to enable the consideration of ‘how power, oppression, resistance, privilege, penalties, benefits and harms are systematically distributed’, the matrix of domination is a term coined by feminist scholar Patricia Hill Collins in her book Black Feminist Thought. Sociotechnical, data-driven systems can, in particular, be considered to enforce & proliferate this structure; which constitutes the thesis explored by Costanza-Chocks’s article written in 2017. Arguably, the most notable example of such interlocking systems of oppression can be observed in social media moderation algorithms, which are typically combined human-algorithmic approaches to curating and silencing online user-generated content.
This brief reflection essay explores social platforms as potential systems of oppression, and was submitted as coursework for the INFO-203 Social Issues of Information class at UC Berkeley.