  As more algorithmic systems have come under scrutiny for their potential to
inflict societal harms, an increasing number of organizations that hold power
over harmful algorithms have chosen (or were required under the law) to abandon
them. While social movements and calls to abandon harmful algorithms have
emerged across application domains, little academic attention has been paid to
studying abandonment as a means to mitigate algorithmic harms. In this paper,
we take a first step towards conceptualizing "algorithm abandonment" as an
organization's decision to stop designing, developing, or using an algorithmic
system due to its (potential) harms. We conduct a thematic analysis of
real-world cases of algorithm abandonment to characterize the dynamics leading
to this outcome. Our analysis of 40 cases reveals that campaigns to abandon an
algorithm follow a common process of six iterative phases: discovery,
diagnosis, dissemination, dialogue, decision, and death, which we term the "6
D's of abandonment". In addition, we highlight key factors that facilitate (or
prohibit) abandonment, which include characteristics of both the technical and
social systems that the algorithm is embedded within. We discuss implications
for several stakeholders, including proprietors and technologists who have the
power to influence an algorithm's (dis)continued use, FAccT researchers, and
policymakers.
