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Politics of Content Moderation, or: Future Designer Elon

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Like a little boy who has to buy the whole gumball machine right away, only to happily toss every single gum down the drain in front of his buddies. This is how the satirical program extra3 described Elon Musk’s behavior since the Twitter takeover.

The suspicion of infantilism (which I have already written about elsewhere) is now joined by this: the guy who pretends to represent the future like hardly any other super-rich poser is suspected of not even being up to his standards Time to be: He tweets about moderating content like it’s 2008, write Adrian Kopps and Christian Katzenbach on the HIIG Blog.

And they clarify: His tweets and other public statements show that Elon Musk neither appreciates nor fully understands the complexity and importance of content moderation.

So what is the moderation of content – ​​often also called “content moderation” in this country?

Content moderation is a key means by which platforms exercise power over public discourse:

ie establishing and enforcing rules about what type of content is allowed and forbidden on their sites. Since social networks have developed into central communication channels and other forms of regulation are often lacking, the self-written rules of the platforms are of crucial importance. This has been seen, inter alia, in the controversies over the regulation of hate speech and misinformation of recent years, which point to the role and responsibility of platforms in regulating public communication dynamics.

But like the algorithms that hold the platform together, content moderation rules, even when not kept secret like the algorithms in a black box, are inherently opaque.

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The authors explain:

Defining exactly where the Twitter Rules begin and end is therefore a difficult task in itself, especially as Twitter has begun to create specific policies outside of the Twitter Rules, such as: B. a “Policy against misleading information in a crisis” and a policy on COVID-related misinformation.

And:

With the differentiation of the Twitter Rules from a compact set of rules to a branched network of guidelines, it became increasingly difficult for users to find their way around the set of rules and to understand when it changed.

Navigating the hustle and bustle won’t be easy given Musk’s takeover, who doesn’t understand these connections but wants to change everything at his whim.

In this respect, the authors’ appeal to “us” – critical users, journalists, scientists – to remain vigilant is justified.

While Twitter’s content policy hasn’t changed yet, it can happen at any time. It will therefore be important to follow how Twitter’s rulebook evolves around Musk’s acquisition. Examining these changes from a historical perspective will show if, and if so, how, Musk’s ideas about free speech and public exchange are reflected in the platform’s policy. Each change is therefore closely monitored by us and will soon be published in an updated record of the Platform Governance Archive.

Finally, the authors suggest the following:

While the basic guidelines are still in place, the teams responsible for administering the rules and enforcing them at Twitter have been drastically reduced, if they still exist at all. Those who stay with the company lack the backing of management. These developments cast doubt on the persistence of Twitter’s sophisticated system of policies and enforcement, raising the question: What are all the rules worth if there is no one to enforce them.

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