Safiya Noble, an internet studies scholar and professor of gender studies and African American studies, has been honored as the inaugural recipient of the NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award.
This honor recognizes Noble for her leadership and innovation in her approach to creating a digital ecosystem that contributes to a more inclusive and equitable society.
The NAACP-Archewell Digital Civil Rights Award, which is supported by Archewell and administered by the NAACP, will be bestowed annually to recognize leaders creating change — at the intersection of social justice and technology — to advance civil and human rights.
“At both the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, and at the Equity Engine, we are working toward greater possibilities for vulnerable people,” said Noble, who is a professor of African American studies and gender studies. “Digital civil rights and protections from harm on the internet are a crucial pathway to a more just world, and I am grateful for the support of the NAACP and Archewell for contributing to our efforts to create more compassionate and democratic societies where Black women and women of color can thrive, too.”
Noble is co-founder and faculty director of the UCLA Center for Critical Internet Inquiry, or C2i2; a critical internet studies community championing racial justice, strengthening democracy and challenging tech through a mix of research, culture and policy. She is also co-director of the Minderoo Initiative on Tech & Power. In 2021, she was recognized as a MacArthur Foundation Fellow for her groundbreaking work on algorithmic discrimination. She is the author of a best-selling book on racist and sexist algorithmic bias in commercial search engines, “Algorithms of Oppression: How Search Engines Reinforce Racism” (NYU Press).