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Twitter calls it "visibility filtering" [1] Facebook gives mods a "Hide comment" button [2] TikTok calls it "visible to self" [3] [4] Truth Social does it [5

by rhaksw 4y ago

Twitter calls it "visibility filtering" [1] Facebook gives mods a "Hide comment" button [2] TikTok calls it "visible to self" [3] [4] Truth Social does it [5] [6] [7] Reddit shows all removed comments to authors as if they're publicly visible [8] Open source tools are built to do it [9] [10] Textbooks advocate "disguise a gag or ban" [11] I call it Shadow Moderation [12]. The system intentionally does not show users the ways in which their content has been actioned. The solution is simple— provide users with the same view that the moderating system has. Whenever their content has been actioned, let users see it. It may be the result of two groups who fail to connect. Those who don't want any censorship at all, and those who want disinformation to be handled by the platform. If there is no olive branch and no concession made between these two positions, then platform designers may seek to satisfy both by secretly actioning content. If there is now wide understanding that this happens everywhere, maybe we have a chance to build a platform whose express goal is to not withhold censorship actions from the author of the content. [1] https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1601014175366402048 https://twitter.com/bariweiss/status/1601014175366402048 [2] https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/hide-comments-on-facebook/#options-for-social-media-managers https://www.agorapulse.com/blog/hide-comments-on-facebook/#o... [3] https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-how-tiktok-censors-videos-that-do-not-please-beijing https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2019/sep/25/revealed-... [4] https://netzpolitik.org/2019/cheerfulness-and-censorship/ https://netzpolitik.org/2019/cheerfulness-and-censorship/ [5] https://www.tiktok.com/@cheyenne.l.hunt/video/7111505389950242094?is_copy_url=1&is_from_webapp=v1 https://www.tiktok.com/@cheyenne.l.hunt/video/71115053899502... [6] https://www.citizen.org/article/truth-cant-handle-the-truth/#_ftn4 https://www.citizen.org/article/truth-cant-handle-the-truth/... [7] https://www.tiktok.com/@cheyenne.l.hunt/video/7111858102638529835 https://www.tiktok.com/@cheyenne.l.hunt/video/71118581026385... [8] https://www.reddit.com/r/CantSayAnything/comments/zdubov/write_any_comment_here_20221206/ https://www.reddit.com/r/CantSayAnything/comments/zdubov/wri... [9] https://getstream.io/blog/feature-announcement-shadow-ban/ https://getstream.io/blog/feature-announcement-shadow-ban/ [10] https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-shadowban/85041 https://meta.discourse.org/t/discourse-shadowban/85041 [11] https://kraut.hciresearch.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/kiesler10-Regulation-current.pdf https://kraut.hciresearch.info/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/ki... [12] https://cantsayanything.win/2022-10-transparent-moderation/ https://cantsayanything.win/2022-10-transparent-moderation/

krapp 4y ago
>If there is now wide understanding that this happens everywhere, maybe we have a chance to build a platform whose express goal is to not withhold censorship actions from the author of the content. I want to know what rock people have been living under all this time, that this sort of thing is news to them.
- rhaksw 4y ago
  It's a shock to most people [1]: > ...what is the supposed rationale for making you think a removed post is still live and visible? > ...So the mods delete comments, but have them still visible to the writer. How sinister. > ...what’s stunning is you get no notification and to you the comment still looks up. Which means mods can set whatever narrative they want without answering to anyone. > ...Wow. Can they remove your comment and it still shows up on your side as if it wasn't removed? [1] https://www.reveddit.com/about/faq/#react https://www.reveddit.com/about/faq/#react
  - NaturalPhallacy 4y ago
    Every person I introduce to reveddit has the exact same reaction. Shock and righteous indignation.
- dotnet00 4y ago
  I think to a lot of people who pay attention to this sort of thing (eg the crowd already familiar with tools like reveddit) might not be a shock but it is a rare case of it being admitted in clear terms with specific examples which correspond to the sorts of claims that are often dismissed as rumors by third parties. While not anywhere near as high profile, it's kind of like how anyone who was paying attention probably had a decent idea of the kind of surveillance governments might be engaging in, but it was still a big deal when Snowden released the documents making it undeniable. As the thread says, Twitter used a bit of trickery by calling it "visibility filtering" so they could lean on the technicality that "we do not shadow ban", because they too preferred to leave in some plausible deniability.
- LightHugger 4y ago

by rhaksw 4y ago

krapp 4y ago

>If there is now wide understanding that this happens everywhere, maybe we have a chance to build a platform whose express goal is to not withhold censorship actions from the author of the content. I want to know what rock people have been living under all this time, that this sort of thing is news to them.

rhaksw 4y ago
It's a shock to most people [1]: > ...what is the supposed rationale for making you think a removed post is still live and visible? > ...So the mods delete comments, but have them still visible to the writer. How sinister. > ...what’s stunning is you get no notification and to you the comment still looks up. Which means mods can set whatever narrative they want without answering to anyone. > ...Wow. Can they remove your comment and it still shows up on your side as if it wasn't removed? [1] https://www.reveddit.com/about/faq/#react https://www.reveddit.com/about/faq/#react
- NaturalPhallacy 4y ago
  Every person I introduce to reveddit has the exact same reaction. Shock and righteous indignation.
dotnet00 4y ago
I think to a lot of people who pay attention to this sort of thing (eg the crowd already familiar with tools like reveddit) might not be a shock but it is a rare case of it being admitted in clear terms with specific examples which correspond to the sorts of claims that are often dismissed as rumors by third parties. While not anywhere near as high profile, it's kind of like how anyone who was paying attention probably had a decent idea of the kind of surveillance governments might be engaging in, but it was still a big deal when Snowden released the documents making it undeniable. As the thread says, Twitter used a bit of trickery by calling it "visibility filtering" so they could lean on the technicality that "we do not shadow ban", because they too preferred to leave in some plausible deniability.
LightHugger 4y ago