Microsoft Researcher Suggests Platforms Share Content Moderation Responsibilities

Platforms should share online content moderation responsibilities with their users, said Tarleton Gillespie, a researcher at Microsoft Research, on C-SPAN's The Communicators, recorded earlier but shown for the first time over the weekend. Reddit is an example of a major platform that relies heavily on user content moderation. Given the size of these platforms, it’s basically impossible to moderate content proactively, said Gillespie, author of Custodians of the Internet. One thrust of the book is for platforms to take more ownership of content moderation, with a regime that addresses extreme content. Content moderation has become a major part of what platforms do, commanding a tremendous amount of resources, he said. The websites need to weigh a balance between creating a safe, open forum without committing politically biased censorship, he said. Gillespie regarded claims of anti-conservative bias as a “superficial” scoring of political points.