The effectiveness of moderating harmful online content.

Schneider, PJ; Rizoiu, M-A

The effectiveness of moderating harmful online content.

Schneider, PJ Rizoiu, M-A

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Publisher:: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2023, 120, (34), pp. e2307360120
Issue Date:: 2023-08-22

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Schneider, PJ
dc.contributor.author	Rizoiu, M-A
dc.date.accessioned	2023-09-25T08:29:39Z
dc.date.available	2023-09-25T08:29:39Z
dc.date.issued	2023-08-22
dc.identifier.citation	Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A, 2023, 120, (34), pp. e2307360120
dc.identifier.issn	0027-8424
dc.identifier.issn	1091-6490
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172288
dc.description.abstract	In 2022, the European Union introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA), a new legislation to report and moderate harmful content from online social networks. Trusted flaggers are mandated to identify harmful content, which platforms must remove within a set delay (currently 24 h). Here, we analyze the likely effectiveness of EU-mandated mechanisms for regulating highly viral online content with short half-lives. We deploy self-exciting point processes to determine the relationship between the regulated moderation delay and the likely harm reduction achieved. We find that harm reduction is achievable for the most harmful content, even for fast-paced platforms such as Twitter. Our method estimates moderation effectiveness for a given platform and provides a rule of thumb for selecting content for investigation and flagging, managing flaggers' workload.
dc.format	Print-Electronic
dc.language	eng
dc.publisher	Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
dc.relation.ispartof	Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1073/pnas.2307360120
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Social Networking
dc.subject.mesh	European Union
dc.subject.mesh	Social Media
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	European Union
dc.subject.mesh	Social Media
dc.subject.mesh	Social Networking
dc.subject.mesh	Humans
dc.subject.mesh	Social Networking
dc.subject.mesh	European Union
dc.subject.mesh	Social Media
dc.title	The effectiveness of moderating harmful online content.
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	120
utslib.location.activity	United States
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Engineering and Information Technology
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
dc.date.updated	2023-09-25T08:29:33Z
pubs.issue	34
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	120
utslib.citation.issue	34

Abstract:

In 2022, the European Union introduced the Digital Services Act (DSA), a new legislation to report and moderate harmful content from online social networks. Trusted flaggers are mandated to identify harmful content, which platforms must remove within a set delay (currently 24 h). Here, we analyze the likely effectiveness of EU-mandated mechanisms for regulating highly viral online content with short half-lives. We deploy self-exciting point processes to determine the relationship between the regulated moderation delay and the likely harm reduction achieved. We find that harm reduction is achievable for the most harmful content, even for fast-paced platforms such as Twitter. Our method estimates moderation effectiveness for a given platform and provides a rule of thumb for selecting content for investigation and flagging, managing flaggers' workload.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/172288