The Dutch government’s use of artificial intelligence to speed up public services has led to a major crisis. The use of artificial intelligence in public services in the country started in 2020. The algorithms installed on artificial intelligence started to identify tax evaders, but it turned out that people who were fined for tax evasion were misidentified by artificial intelligence. According to the information revealed by The Parliament, a publication known for its closeness to the European Union (EU), government officials loaded racist algorithms into the artificial intelligence, such as “those with foreign-sounding names and surnames”, “those with dual citizenship” and “minorities”. It was also stated that tens of thousands of people were unfairly fined due to this incorrect algorithm system and that many Turks were among those punished.
EU MAY PUNISH
It is stated that many families have experienced “devastation” due to the artificial intelligence-based racism scandal in the Netherlands. While it is underlined that artificial intelligence makes a racist discrimination regarding both tax evasion and child support, thousands of families remain in debt and even lose their homes; In the Netherlands “4. The scandal, which is said to have been effective in the collapse of the government referred to as “Mark Rutte Cabinet”, is also in the spotlight of the European Union.
OFFICIAL STATEMENT REQUESTED
In the European Union; Following the scandal in the country, the Dutch government asked for an official statement as to whether the racist algorithm was used by immigration officers, law enforcement forces, the army or schools. Chloe Berthelemy, one of the experts of the Brussels-based non-governmental organization European Digital Rights Association, said: “After the scandal,“The recently increasing racism against minorities in Europe has become increasingly out of control and more violent due to algorithms in artificial intelligence.” He made a statement.
ARE MINORITIES IDENTIFIED?
AP, a Netherlands-based human rights monitoring organization, claimed that the racist coding of artificial intelligence in public institutions continued throughout 2023. According to the European Commission’s study in 2022, there were 686 official complaints about the discriminatory algorithm of artificial intelligence, reaching the Commission from 27 EU member countries. In the Dutch Government Transparency Report published in 2020, it was stated that warnings about artificial intelligence being coded and used in a racist manner by public employees have been made since 2016. The report also points out that certain minority groups across the country are constantly targeted by algorithms.

GOVERNMENTS ARE SILENT
According to a study published in 2023 by Lighthouse Reports, an independent investigative journalism platform based in the Netherlands, Denmark, France, Spain and Serbia are among the countries that impose criminal sanctions on their citizens with similarly discriminatory algorithms. While it is claimed that people in the lower income group in these countries are coded as “groups with high criminal potential”, Unlike in the Netherlands, no investigation has been launched on the issue.
1.4 MILLION FAMILIES ARE AFFECTED
According to reports regarding the discrimination scandal in the Netherlands, 1.4 million families in the country were perceived as “potential criminals” by artificial intelligence. 71 percent of families subject to criminal sanctions regarding taxes and child benefits are either direct immigrants or families in the first generation of immigrants. 44 percent belong to the lower income group. Experts reveal that one of the biggest dangers in artificial intelligence’s discriminatory algorithms is that it “has an invisible racist attitude.”
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