Fresh insights for content moderation, combating disinformation, fact-checking, and promoting free expression online
Moderating the Marketplace of Ideas
In the ongoing conversation about what can and cannot be said on the Internet, the big question is “who gets to decide?” Some have celebrated Facebook and Twitter’s recent steps to ramp up their moderation of fringe groups and conspiracy theories. Others view their moves as silencing of conservative voices from their platforms. In any case, banning these users has marked a shift in policy for both social media companies who had been reluctant to block any kind of political speech. The ongoing debate has been widely covered this month.
📱 Twitter, Facebook and the Rules of What Can Be Said on Social Media | WSJ (Video)
A Wall Street Journal video covers the deplatforming of former President Trump and QAnon adherents following the Capitol riots in Washington, D.C. reflecting a shift in policy for social media companies. Robyn Caplan from Data & Society, an expert on online misinformation and moderation, helps explain this moment. Final conclusion: there are no easy answers when it comes to content moderation.
⚖️ Who Decides What Stays on the Internet?
Regulation expert Daphne Keller on the Decoder podcast discusses content moderation following the attacks on the U.S. Capitol. She explains the frameworks guiding moderation decisions, constraints online platforms deal with, and other possible ways to think about the problem.
📣 The Coup We Are Not Talking About
In-depth discussion from Shoshana Zuboff, professor emeritus at Harvard Business School, and the author of “The Age of Surveillance Capitalism,” about who owns and controls knowledge itself. She considers really big questions that go well beyond content moderation.
🪧 How the Biden Administration Can Help Solve Our Reality Crisis
Different versions of reality have muddled true facts. From setting up “truth commissions'' to offering a “social stimulus”, various approaches have been suggested for the Biden administration to help with counter-extremism.
🔞 Alternative Social Media Platforms
Social platforms developed as an alternative to Big Tech are quoting the U.S. First Amendment’s Right to Freedom of Speech to justify the presence of hate speech on their platforms.
💻 Facebook's Oversight Board orders takedowns restored
Facebook’s internal ‘supreme court’ reversed four of five contested takedowns. When considered in their context, the posts did not violate any policies, the board concluded, demonstrating just how difficult content moderation can be.
📃 NYU researchers find no evidence of anti-conservative bias on social media
So, does reality have a liberal bias? 😁 The notion that social media is ‘anti-conservative’ springs from political rhetoric without any evidence to support it, the researchers found. Their report also recommends hiring more moderators as employees instead of contracting them.
🗣 A Pennsylvania Mother’s Path to Insurrection
A “crunchy granola” mother turned into an avid Trump supporter over time and actively participated in extremist activities including the Capitol riots.
👮 Facebook blocked in Myanmar after users protest military coup; India protests: Internet cut to hunger-striking farmers in Delhi
Populations in India and Burma have seen internet access cut amid turmoil in their countries.
Remedying Covid-19 and Vaccine Misinformation
As early as February of last year, the World Health Organization declared a Covid-19 ‘infodemic’ to describe the myths and rumors about the pandemic propagating online. The infodemic has not really dissipated and continues to build steam as vaccines are rolled out endangering even more lives.
💉 First Draft Launches Vaccine Insights Hub
First Draft, an organization dedicated to battling misinformation, has launched their Vaccine Insights Hub. The site offers the latest trends in vaccine hesitancy and includes workshops for reporters and researchers to learn more about understanding vaccine misinformation. Content moderators may also find the information useful, especially to help recognize the key narratives being spread that challenge the safety of vaccines.
🧑🏫 Crafting Vaccine Education Messages with the Vaccine Education Toolkit
A joint effort from the National Association of Broadcasters, the Reynolds Journalism Institute, and the National Association of Chain Drug Stores offers sample messaging and suggested topics that will resonate with audiences.
📰 The media needs to get the vaccination story right
As the vaccine is rolled out, stuff’s gonna happen. The media needs to be careful and precise in how they craft their headlines.
Regulatory News and Updates
The U.K. and E.U. bills have been in the works. The U.S. has been slower to adopt legislation but not for lack of proposals. Ireland recently joined the fray with Coco’s Law.
🇮🇪 Minister McEntee marks Safer Internet Day by commencing Coco’s Law
The Harassment, Harmful Communications, and Related Offences Act, also known as Coco’s Law finally came into force in Ireland on Safer Internet Day. The law makes the distribution or publication of intimate photos without consent punishable by law.
🇺🇸 The SAFE TECH Act offers Section 230 reform, but the law’s defenders warn of major side effects
The first bill to reform Section 230 of the Communications and Decency Act in the new congress is out. Major changes are proposed but not everyone is onboard.
🇺🇳 UN chief calls for regulating social media companies
Secretary-General of the U.N. expresses concern that major questions of free expression are left up to a handful of California internet companies motivated primarily by financial considerations.
🇪🇺 The Digital Services Act package
Information on the Digital Services Act direct from the European Commission.
🇬🇧 Online harms bill: firms may face multibillion-pound fines for illegal content
New, strict internet regulations proposed by the U.K. government for social media companies, who will be required to remove harmful content or face stiff penalties.
CheckStep News
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