Platform and hiring-algorithm audits
The nearest cousin: AI-system audits with statutory independence rules written at the start (no non-audit services in the prior year, rotation) rather than after a scandal.
Path signature
T trigger M mandate A access/publication I independence T trigger
Similarity of its opening to frontier AI: 0.22 (matched opening TMAIT)
Stages reached
| Voluntary | not reached |
| Trigger | 2018 |
| Mandate | 2021 |
| Standards | not reached |
| Oversight | not reached |
| Independence | 2023 |
| Access | 2022 |
Mechanisms
| Before reform | Now | |
|---|---|---|
| pays | A | A |
| selects | A | A |
| access | shallow | deep |
| publishes | none | summary |
| oversees | none | regulator |
Platform pays and selects under independence constraints; Commission receives full reports.
Payer, access, publication
Who pays. Platform or employer pays the auditor.
Access. DSA: access to data and premises; LL144: employer-supplied data.
Publication. DSA audit reports published in redacted form; LL144 summaries public.
Milestones
| Year | Kind | Event | Strength | Harm | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2018 | trigger | Cambridge Analytica revelations. | integrity_failure: Undisclosed data use affecting tens of millions of users | source | |
| 2021 | mandate | NYC Local Law 144 requires bias audits of automated employment decision tools (effective 2023). | 3 | source | |
| 2022 | access expansion | DSA Article 40 grants vetted researchers data access to very large platforms. | 3 | source | |
| 2022 | mandate | EU Digital Services Act Article 37 requires annual independent audits of very large platforms. | 3 | source | |
| 2023 | independence rule | DSA delegated regulation on audits: auditor independence, limits on prior non-audit services, rotation. | 3 | source | |
| 2025 | trigger | Published analysis of 116 LL144 bias audits finds shallow and inconsistent audits. | integrity_failure: Published audits found shallow and inconsistent | source |
seed; secondary sources, years spot-checked; verify against a primary source before citing in the paper Data: data/industries/platform-algorithm-audits.json