{"CACHEDAT":"2026-06-05 09:11:01","SLUG":"glossary-1LfGvKpPD1","MARKDOWN":"# Algorithms\n\nAn algorithm is a sequence of instructions, automatically executed by a computer (UNESCO, 2017). It input into output by performing calculations, sorting or classifying data, making decisions, or automating repetitive tasks. Algorithms range from very simple (e.g., a fixed rule for sorting a list) to highly complex (e.g., the recommendation system of a social media platform).\n\nAlgorithms are designed by humans (Council of Europe, 2020). Even in modern machine learning systems — where parts of the algorithm's behaviour are learned from data rather than written line by line — humans set the goals the system optimises for, select the training data, and decide how the system is deployed (Metzler & Garcia, 2024; Narayanan, 2023). The outputs of an algorithm therefore reflect the choices, assumptions, and values of those who build and deploy it; they are not neutral or objective.\n\nIn digital platforms, algorithms are typically combined into **algorithmic systems** — applications that, often using mathematical models, gather, combine, sort, classify, and infer data, and that select, prioritise, recommend, or make decisions on that basis (Council of Europe, 2020).\n\n\n:::info\n* UNESCO (2017). A lexicon for the digital age. UNESCO Courier, July–September 2017. \n* Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (2020). Recommendation CM/Rec(2020)1 on the human rights impacts of algorithmic systems, adopted 8 April 2020.\n* Metzler, H., & Garcia, D. (2024). Social drivers and algorithmic mechanisms on digital media. Perspectives on Psychological Science. [https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057 ](https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057)![](data:image/png;base64,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 \"Add to Citavi project by DOI =16x16\")[ ](https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057)![](data:image/png;base64,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 \"Add to Citavi project by DOI =16x16\")[ ](https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057)![](data:image/png;base64,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 \"Add to Citavi project by DOI =16x16\")[ ](https://doi.org/10.1177/17456916231185057)![](data:image/png;base64,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 \"Add to Citavi project by DOI =16x16\")\n* Narayanan, A. (2023). Understanding social media recommendation algorithms. Knight First Amendment Institute, Columbia University. \n\n:::","HTML":"

Algorithms

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An algorithm is a sequence of instructions, automatically executed by a computer (UNESCO, 2017). It input into output by performing calculations, sorting or classifying data, making decisions, or automating repetitive tasks. Algorithms range from very simple (e.g., a fixed rule for sorting a list) to highly complex (e.g., the recommendation system of a social media platform).

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Algorithms are designed by humans (Council of Europe, 2020). Even in modern machine learning systems — where parts of the algorithm's behaviour are learned from data rather than written line by line — humans set the goals the system optimises for, select the training data, and decide how the system is deployed (Metzler & Garcia, 2024; Narayanan, 2023). The outputs of an algorithm therefore reflect the choices, assumptions, and values of those who build and deploy it; they are not neutral or objective.

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In digital platforms, algorithms are typically combined into algorithmic systems — applications that, often using mathematical models, gather, combine, sort, classify, and infer data, and that select, prioritise, recommend, or make decisions on that basis (Council of Europe, 2020).

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