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Content Moderation Case Study: Twitter Attempts To Tackle COVID-related Vaccine Misinformation (2020)

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Summary: Following on its efforts in tamping down on election-related misinformation, Twitter's latest moderation efforts target misleading posts about COVID and the coronavirus, with a specific focus on vaccine related information.Despite being months into a global pandemic, there has been a lack of clear, consistent communication from all levels of government in the United States, which has given conspiracy theorists and anti-vaccination activists plenty of room to ply their dubious trades. Twitter is hoping to reduce exposure to tweets containing misleading information as the nation continues to deal with multiple COVID outbreaks.

Since early in the pandemic, Twitter had been aggressive in moderating misleading content regarding how the virus spreads, unproven remedies and treatments, and other health related info. Its new policy expands on that, mainly to focus on false information and conspiracy theories regarding vaccines.Twitter won't be limiting itself to applying warnings to tweets with dubious content. The platform will force users to delete tweets that don't comply with its expanded code of conduct. Added to restrictions on misinformation about the spread of the disease and its morbidity rates are bans on false claims about immunization safety or COVID's dangers.Decisions for Twitter:
  • If there are actual stories of harm or side effects from vaccines, how will Twitter distinguish those reports from the conspiracy theories?
  • Who will Twitter consider to be trusted sources for determining which information is factual, and which are conspiracy theories?
  • Is there an effective way to teach users that they are sharing false information, rather than simply banning them?
Questions and policy implications to consider:
  • Does moderating COVID conspiracy theories inadvertently lend "credence" to conspiracy theorists?
  • Does more direct moderation of certain content invite even more Congressional scrutiny and calls for direct government regulation?
  • Will human moderation help mitigate possible collateral damage to "good faith" users who aren't aware they're spreading misinformation?
Resolution: Twitter's expanded ban on misinformation is crafted to specifically target conspiracy theories about vaccinations or the disease's existence. The site will use a combination of AI and human moderators to determine whether flagged tweets should be labeled as questionable or removed entirely. Repeat violators can expect to have their accounts suspended or deleted.The company also suggests that in early 2021 it will likely expand this fight against vaccine misinformation by placing warnings or labels on content that is unsubstantiated, disputed, or without necessary context.Originally posted to the Trust & Safety Foundation website.

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posted at: 12:00am on 11-Feb-2021
path: /Policy | permalink | edit (requires password)

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Steam Becomes Available In China, Offers 53 Whole Games To Customers

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There is no shortage of critiques for Valve's online PC game store, Steam. That's to be expected, frankly, given how big the platform is. Still, on the ground with individual gamers, one of the most common complaints you hear will be that the sheer volume of games on Steam is somewhat paralyzing for customers deciding where to spend their money. Steam tried to combat this for years with its Steam Curators program, where gamers put their trust in curators to pare down game search results. It never really worked, though, as the program encountered the same issue as the game: the sheer volume of curators.And so nothing really got solved. Except for in China, it seems, where Steam recently launched with a grand total of 53 whole games available to buyers.

Steam is now available in China, and if you thought that would give Chinese gamers instant access to the weird, wonderful and sometimes deeply offensive depths of the service’s catalogue, well lol, no, of course it doesn’t.At time of posting this custom, localised version of Valve’s shopfront only has 53 games available, with the main ones being Counter-Strike and DOTA 2. That’s it. If you visit the store and click on “all games” you can see everything in a single screenshot.
You already know why this is happening. In order to be available in China, games have to go through an approval process with the Chinese government. Given the insanely strict rules for approval, few publishers even try to get approval. That, plus the related apathy for entering the market, gets you 53 games on Chinese Steam.In addition, the forums on Steam are blocked as well, ostensibly to keep any speech Beijing would disapprove of from appearing on the site. Oddly, user reviews are available, however.Honestly, it's enough to make you wonder why this release was worth it for Steam at all. Put another way, if gaining approval from the Chinese government to release a video game is so difficult and/or arduous to keep most game publishers away, why would a game storefront be any different?

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posted at: 12:00am on 11-Feb-2021
path: /Policy | permalink | edit (requires password)

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