Grantee interview with FEMYSO: Work on inclusion requires patience, trust and flexibility
FEMYSO at the European Parliament
As Europe witnesses a rise of anti-democratic forces, questions around inclusion and representation are becoming more acute. In this conversation with our grantee FEMYSO (Forum of European Muslim Youth and Student Organisations) we discuss the impacts of technologies on the Muslim community, FEMYSO’s research and advocacy on Islamophobia and bias in AI and the importance of supporting organisations working with communities on the ground.
As a youth-led civil society organisation, FEMYSO represents European Muslim youth and fosters their potential through skill development, supports and connects its 32 Member Organisations from 22 European countries, while working with partners to collectively build a better Europe for all.
Alexandra Darby is the Lead for AI and Digital Rights at FEMYSO and has been working on their [A.i]slamophobia Campaign to raise awareness on the impact of biased technologies on the lives of young Muslims.
FEMYSO is our Ecosystem grantee. Learn more about their grant here.
EAISF: Why is it important to include Muslim voices in spaces where AI policies are discussed and made? What prompted FEMYSO to get engaged?
Alexandra: At FEMYSO, we are committed to fostering a safer and more inclusive Europe for all. We recognise that AI and other emerging technologies, can exacerbate existing inequalities, and we are deeply concerned about its impact on marginalised communities, particularly Muslims.
Including Muslim Youth voices in AI and digital policy discussions is crucial due to the intersectional inequalities that racialised communities are subjected to. Muslims in Europe often face multiple layers of discrimination, ranging from the gendered islamophobia affecting Muslim women to racial prejudice towards ethnically diverse Muslim communities. Given the complexity of these issues, the solutions must be multifaceted, structural and intersectional, just like the problems.
Through our work, we aim to bring a unique perspective on the impact of AI in the European context, viewing it through the lens of European Muslim youth. We also seek to reach those rendered invisible by many of these same technologies. Previous uses of AI in the public space, such as the Dutch benefits scandal which targeted migrant Muslim families, demonstrate the urgent need for more diverse voices participating in the AI space. We are equally concerned about the use of facial recognition, which poses a risk to Muslim women wearing religious clothing. Additionally, algorithmic policing, such as the RADAR-iTE system in Germany, has a direct impact on Muslim Youth and their experience with the judicial system.
EAISF: How has it been starting to work at the intersection of digital rights and inclusion? Looking back, is there anything you wish you knew when you began this work?
Alexandra: Working with our member organisations on the intersection of digital rights and inclusion has been a rewarding experience. Our member organisations are vibrant, youth-led and work to promote active citizenship and inclusivity. As they operate at a grassroots level, their attendees come with lived experience of Islamophobia and how to challenge this, which inspire us in our work.
We started working on the areas of digital rights and inclusion as we saw the growing impacts of biased technologies and the biased use of technologies on our communities. We became increasingly alarmed by stories of digital exclusion from state services, to increased surveillance and the risks of biometric and facial recognition in criminalising young Muslims. As a result, we launched our [A.i]slamophobia Campaign, to raise awareness on the issue of technologies in enabling and reproducing Islamophobic biases.
If there is something that I wish I had known at the start of this, it would be the importance of networks in creating and amplifying this work. Creating partnerships with other organisations has helped us to expand our work as well as understanding the important projects being done on the ground from other organisations.
EAISF: Tell us about your [A.i]slamophobia campaign. Where have you seen the biggest impact of your work? What do you still aspire to do?
Alexandra: Due to the many and diverse forms of discrimination Muslim youth can face in Europe, our [A.i]slamophobia Campaign focused on three key areas: research, advocacy, and capacity building.
Muslims can often fall through the cracks of different projects unless faith and Islamophobia are specifically considered. In working on this area, we realised that there is a lack of knowledge and accessible data or resources on how AI has demonstrated Islamophobic biases. To begin to address this issue, FEMYSO has been working on an online database compiling all articles and news stories detailing cases of AI and discrimination relevant to Muslim communities. We will be launching this platform soon as a tool for researchers and advocates to better understand Islamophobia in AI.
Our biggest impact through our Campaign would be through our red teaming event. As part of increasing capacity and digital literacy of Muslim youth as well as raising awareness on the issue of bias in large language models (LLMs), we organised a red teaming event in Brussels. The event was hosted at the European Parliament in connection with our European Action Day Against Islamophobia Conference and was organised in collaboration with Humane Intelligence. During the event, participants were challenged to break the safeguards of several LLMs and push them to recreate Islamophobic tropes. During the event, we were able to generate over 130 examples of Islamophobic bias, and we are currently working on a report of the event and analysis of the results.
As our work continues, we aspire to see other organisations engaging meaningfully with the Muslim community and engaging actively on the issue of Islamophobia in Europe.
EAISF: What have you found the most challenging and rewarding about working on AI through equality and non-discrimination perspective?
Alexandra: The most rewarding aspect is always the support and positive response from other civil society organisations when they hear about our work. Although engaging in issues related to Islamophobia in Europe can often feel isolating, hearing from others who are aligned with our mission always re-energises me. It’s empowering to know that our work is resonating with people and organisations who are equally committed to tackling these issues.
When it comes to the most challenging, we have found that whilst there is lots of enthusiasm for our work there is very little knowledge about the cases of Islamophobic algorithms currently in use across Europe. A large part of our work has been focused on raising awareness and building a foundation of understanding amongst other organisations about the specific challenges faced by our community.
EAISF: How can funders better support organisations like FEMYSO at the time of growing polarisation and fascism?
Alexandra: For funders, it’s essential to understand that work on inclusion is a long-term process that requires patience, trust-building, and flexibility. The key thing that funders can do is invest in relationships with organisations like ours working with grassroots. This means providing support that goes beyond financial contributions and includes actively engaging in co-designing grants and projects.
Trust building involves actively reaching out and creating and maintaining a relationship with groups that you want to include, and co-design of grants is a great way of doing this. By working collaboratively with these groups in understanding what their projects and ways of working are can help to shape the grant to ensure that they feel eligible and supported in applying for funds.
FEMYSO is a youth-led and majority volunteer-run organisation, and we often face limitations in terms of time and resources. Grants that are flexible, that can be adapted as needs evolve, and that provide support for capacity building (such as training for writing grant applications) can be incredibly helpful to make our projects more sustainable.
In times of growing polarisation, anything that can be done to remove barriers to accessing support and keeping organisations connected can have a huge impact.
EAISF: are there any books or podcasts that you’ve enjoyed recently?
Alexandra: