Episode 25
Extreme Speech & Content Moderation Online
This week we are joined by Dr. Matti Pohjonen to speak about Extreme Speech & Content Moderation Online.
For the past 10 years, Matti has developed critical-comparative research approaches for understanding digital cultures globally. This has included work on international news and blogging in India, mobile technology in East Africa, and exploring new methods in “big data” analysis and artificial intelligence for digital media research. Matti has taught at SOAS in Global Media & Post National Communication; he is now a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Helsinki where he is working on global and comparative dimensions of platform accountability.
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Host & Producer: Chipo Mapondera
Researcher: Eliza Bacon
Editor: Deirbhile Áine Ní Bhranáin
Sound Engineer: Fungai Nengare
Theme Music: Anna De Mutiis
Resources:
Follow Matti on his website: http://matti-pohjonen.com/
And on twitter: https://twitter.com/objetpetitm
Learn more about Matti’s research project on global and comparative dimensions of platform accountability at the University of Helsinki: https://blogs.helsinki.fi/mapsproject/
Access Matti’s four-part Vox-Pol series on researching extremism online: https://www.voxpol.eu/terrorism-informatics-part-i-a-framework-for-researchers/
Read the paper Extreme Speech | Extreme Speech and Global Digital Cultures — Introduction, co-authored by Matti for the International Journal of Communications: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/9102
The New York Times article ‘After Barring Trump, Facebook and Twitter Face Scrutiny About Inaction Abroad’ goes into the uneven application of online content moderation: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/01/14/technology/trump-facebook-twitter.html
Learn more about Twitter banning in India in the BBC article, The Indian government's war with Twitter: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-india-56007451
Read Twitter’s response to India’s banning order on the Twitter blog Updates on our response to blocking orders from the Indian Government: https://blog.twitter.com/en_in/topics/company/2020/twitters-response-indian-government.html
The Rest of World article, ‘Silicon Valley’s Double Standard’ questions the big platform’s political responses : https://restofworld.org/2021/silicon-valley-double-standard/
The FT article India imposes sweeping new social media rules further questions online Freedom of Speech in India: https://www.ft.com/content/ca1e9f79-bbe8-4872-a3e6-96174419d1c3
Read about Facebook’s policy on the upcoming Ethopian election in the New Business Ethiopia article Facebook to keep users safe ahead of Ethiopia elections: https://newbusinessethiopia.com/politics/facebook-to-keep-users-safe-ahead-of-ethiopia-elections/
Journal article on internet shutdowns: https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/15070/3188
Learn more about the role AI will play in content moderation in the Journal article, No amount of “AI” in content moderation will solve filtering’s prior-restraint problem: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2053951720920686
The Digital Berlin Wall Act 2: How the German Prototype for Online Censorship went Global: https://justitia-int.org/the-digital-berlin-wall-act-2-how-the-german-prototype-for-online-censorship-went-global-2020-edition/
The second Roar Media Engage To Disengage webinar Understanding Conspiracy Theories and False News discusses Misinformation, disinformation and other forms of fake news.