Transparency has long been held up as the solution to the societal harms caused by digital platforms' use of algorithms. However, what transparency means, how to create meaningful transparency, and what behaviors can be altered through transparency are all ambiguous legal and policy questions. This paper argues for beginning with clarifying the desired outcome (the “why”) before focusing on transparency processes and tactics (the “how”). Moving beyond analyses of the ways algorithms impact human lives, this research articulates an approach that tests and implements the right set of transparency tactics aligned to specific predefined behavioral outcomes we want to see on digital platforms. To elaborate on this approach, three specific desirable behavioral outcomes are highlighted, to which potential transparency tactics are then mapped. No single set of transparency tactics can solve all the harms possible from digital platforms, making such an outcomes-focused transparency tactic selection approach the best suited to the constantly-evolving nature of algorithms, digital platforms, and our societies.

中文翻译：

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透明度的目的是什么？：为数字平台设计注重结果的透明度策略

长期以来，透明度一直被认为是解决数字平台使用算法所造成的社会危害的解决方案。然而，透明度意味着什么，如何创造有意义的透明度，以及通过透明度可以改变哪些行为，都是模棱两可的法律和政策问题。本文主张首先澄清期望的结果（“为什么”），然后再关注透明度流程和策略（“如何”）。除了分析算法影响人类生活的方式之外，这项研究还阐明了一种方法，可以测试和实施与我们希望在数字平台上看到的特定预定义行为结果相一致的正确的透明度策略。为了详细说明这种方法，强调了三个具体的理想行为结果，然后将潜在的透明度策略映射到这些结果。没有一套单一的透明度策略可以解决数字平台可能造成的所有危害，因此这种以结果为中心的透明度策略选择方法最适合算法、数字平台和我们社会不断发展的性质。