Algorithmic biases and the discoverability of digital cultural content

The digital era has transformed how the production of culture is accessed, how it circulates, and how it is organized. In this article, I wish to discuss the notion of discoverability. This notion, I argue, is one of the most recent cultural policy instruments that has emerged in the digital era. Discoverability implies creating conditions under which the public can easily encounter (be proposed or offered) cultural content that is culturally relevant. In other words, the notion of discoverability includes the capacity to encounter local cultural content and content that is made in languages other than English. Discoverability, however, tends to function on algorithmic biases that privilege English-language cultural content and content produced by large global corporations. From a cultural policy perspective, discoverability is rooted in two basic dimensions: the regulation of culture and the accessibility of culture. This article emphasizes the place of French-language content and touches on two dimensions: the accessibility of French-language digital content in general, and the issue of cultural content from French-speaking minorities. In doing so, it also sheds light on strategies and policies that are pertinent to other languages and to other linguistic minorities.