{"id":686481,"date":"2020-08-22T14:41:13","date_gmt":"2020-08-22T21:41:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?post_type=msr-research-item&#038;p=686481"},"modified":"2021-05-28T14:52:00","modified_gmt":"2021-05-28T21:52:00","slug":"custodians-of-the-internet-platforms-content-moderation-and-the-hidden-decisions-that-shape-social-media","status":"publish","type":"msr-research-item","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/publication\/custodians-of-the-internet-platforms-content-moderation-and-the-hidden-decisions-that-shape-social-media\/","title":{"rendered":"Custodians of the Internet: Platforms, Content Moderation, and the Hidden Decisions that Shape Social Media"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>A revealing and gripping investigation into how social media platforms police what we post online\u2014and the large societal impact of these decisions<\/b><\/p>\n<p>Most users want their Twitter feed, Facebook page, and YouTube comments to be free of harassment and porn. Whether faced with \u201cfake news\u201d or livestreamed violence, \u201ccontent moderators\u201d\u2014who censor or promote user-posted content\u2014have never been more important. This is especially true when the tools that social media platforms use to curb trolling, ban hate speech, and censor pornography can also silence the speech you need to hear.<\/p>\n<p>In this revealing and nuanced exploration, award-winning sociologist and cultural observer Tarleton Gillespie provides an overview of current social media practices and explains the underlying rationales for how, when, and why these policies are enforced. In doing so, Gillespie highlights that content moderation receives too little public scrutiny even as it is shapes social norms and creates consequences for public discourse, cultural production, and the fabric of society. Based on interviews with content moderators, creators, and consumers, this accessible, timely book is a must-read for anyone who\u2019s ever clicked \u201clike\u201d or \u201cretweet.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A revealing and gripping investigation into how social media platforms police what we post online\u2014and the large societal impact of these decisions Most users want their Twitter feed, Facebook page, and YouTube comments to be free of harassment and porn. Whether faced with \u201cfake news\u201d or livestreamed violence, \u201ccontent moderators\u201d\u2014who censor or promote user-posted content\u2014have [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":0,"template":"","meta":{"msr-url-field":"","msr-podcast-episode":"","msrModifiedDate":"","msrModifiedDateEnabled":false,"ep_exclude_from_search":false,"_classifai_error":"","msr-author-ordering":[],"msr_publishername":"Yale University Press","msr_publisher_other":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_chapter":"","msr_edition":"","msr_editors":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_isbn":"9780300173130","msr_issue":"","msr_journal":"","msr_number":"","msr_organization":"","msr_pages_string":"","msr_page_range_start":"","msr_page_range_end":"","msr_series":"","msr_volume":"","msr_copyright":"","msr_conference_name":"","msr_doi":"","msr_arxiv_id":"","msr_s2_paper_id":"","msr_mag_id":"","msr_pubmed_id":"","msr_other_authors":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_award":"","msr_affiliation":"","msr_institution":"","msr_host":"","msr_version":"","msr_duration":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_s2_match_type":"","msr_citation_count_updated":"","msr_published_date":"2018-6-1","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_notes":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_conference_url":"","msr_journal_url":"","msr_s2_pdf_url":"","msr_year":0,"msr_citation_count":0,"msr_influential_citations":0,"msr_reference_count":0,"msr_s2_match_confidence":0,"msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":false,"msr_s2_open_access":false,"msr_s2_author_ids":[],"msr_pub_ids":[],"msr_hide_image_in_river":0,"footnotes":""},"msr-research-highlight":[],"research-area":[13559],"msr-publication-type":[193719],"msr-publisher":[],"msr-focus-area":[],"msr-locale":[268875],"msr-post-option":[],"msr-field-of-study":[],"msr-conference":[],"msr-journal":[],"msr-impact-theme":[],"msr-pillar":[],"class_list":["post-686481","msr-research-item","type-msr-research-item","status-publish","hentry","msr-research-area-social-sciences","msr-locale-en_us"],"msr_publishername":"Yale University Press","msr_edition":"","msr_affiliation":"","msr_published_date":"2018-6-1","msr_host":"","msr_duration":"","msr_version":"","msr_speaker":"","msr_other_contributors":"","msr_booktitle":"","msr_pages_string":"","msr_chapter":"","msr_isbn":"9780300173130","msr_journal":"","msr_volume":"","msr_number":"","msr_editors":"","msr_series":"","msr_issue":"","msr_organization":"","msr_how_published":"","msr_notes":"","msr_highlight_text":"","msr_release_tracker_id":"","msr_original_fields_of_study":"","msr_download_urls":"","msr_external_url":"","msr_secondary_video_url":"","msr_longbiography":"","msr_microsoftintellectualproperty":0,"msr_main_download":"","msr_publicationurl":"","msr_doi":"","msr_publication_uploader":[{"type":"url","viewUrl":"false","id":"false","title":"https:\/\/yalebooks.yale.edu\/book\/9780300173130\/custodians-internet","label_id":"243109","label":0}],"msr_related_uploader":"","msr_citation_count":0,"msr_citation_count_updated":"","msr_s2_paper_id":"","msr_influential_citations":0,"msr_reference_count":0,"msr_arxiv_id":"","msr_s2_author_ids":[],"msr_s2_open_access":false,"msr_s2_pdf_url":null,"msr_attachments":[],"msr-author-ordering":[],"msr_impact_theme":[],"msr_research_lab":[199563],"msr_event":[],"msr_group":[332906],"msr_project":[170498],"publication":[],"video":[],"msr-tool":[],"msr_publication_type":"book","related_content":{"projects":[{"ID":170498,"post_title":"Social Media Collective","post_name":"social-media-collective","post_type":"msr-project","post_date":"2010-07-06 19:46:44","post_modified":"2023-04-14 15:38:19","post_status":"publish","permalink":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/project\/social-media-collective\/","post_excerpt":"The mission of the SMC is first and foremost\u00a0to bring critical and analytical lenses to contemporary sociotechnical systems, particularly around media, expertise, labor, and publics. 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