algospeak

English

Etymology

From algo (“algorithm”) +‎ -speak.

Noun

Examples
lesbian → le$bian → le dollar bean kill → unalive

algospeak (uncountable)

1. (social media, neologism) A form of cant for evading social media content filters.
   • 2022 April 8, Taylor Lorenz, “Internet ‘algospeak’ is changing our language in real time, from ‘nip nops’ to ‘le dollar bean’”, in The Washington Post‎^[1], →ISSN:

     Black and trans users, and those from other marginalized communities, often use algospeak to discuss the oppression they face, swapping out words for “white” or “racist.”

   • 2022 June 24, Jordan Richard Schoenherr, “3.6.2 Microtargeting, Nudging, and Social Influence Campaigns”, in Ethical Artificial Intelligence from Popular to Cognitive Science: Trust in the Age of Entanglement, Taylor & Francis, →ISBN, page unknown:

     By recognizing that keywords can be used to filter content, internet users have resorted to algospeak, the consensual substitution of censored terms with uncensored terms in order to evade censorship (Lorenz, 2022).

   • 2022 October 31, KC Ifeanyi, “Decoding what algospeak really means for content creators”, in Fast Company‎^[2]:

     If you’ve noticed the use of newly invented words cropping up on digital platforms or words used out of context or misspelled, it’s not a new kind of social media slang—it’s algospeak.

   • 2022 November 19, Melina Delkic, “Leg Booty? Panoramic? Seggs? How TikTok Is Changing Language”, in The New York Times‎^[3]:

     A new vocabulary — a little fun, a little dystopian — has emerged on the social video platform, as creators try to get around algorithms and strict content moderation. They call it algospeak. […] Alessandro Bogliari, the chief executive of the Influencer Marketing Factory, said the moderation systems are clever but can make mistakes, which is why many of the influencers his company hires for marketing campaigns use algospeak.

   • 2023 April 13, Roger J. Kreuz, “What is ‘algospeak’? Inside the newest version of linguistic subterfuge”, in The Conversation U.S.‎^[4], Boston:

     Typically, such codes have been employed by small groups. Given the reach of social media, however, algospeak has the potential to more broadly influence everyday language.

See also

• Voldemort (verb)