Content moderation jobs for social networks are still terrible

guest · Sep 21, 2020

mood said: ↑

YouTube will rely on its automated content moderation systems during the COVID-19 outbreak
More videos will be mistakenly removed than usual
March 16, 2020
https://www.techspot.com/news/84413...ily-automated-content-moderation-systems.html

YouTube: Protecting our extended workforce and the community
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YouTube brings back more human moderators after AI systems over-censor
Increased use of automated filters led to double incorrect takedowns
September 21, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/9/21/...i-machine-learning-increased-errors-takedowns

YouTube says it’s bringing back human moderators who were “put offline” during the pandemic after the company’s AI filters failed to match their accuracy.

Back in March, YouTube said it would rely more on machine learning systems to flag and remove content that violated its policies on things like hate speech and misinformation. But YouTube told the Financial Times this week that the greater use of AI moderation had led to a significant increase in video removals and incorrect takedowns.
Around 11 million videos were removed from YouTube between April and June, says the FT, or about double the usual rate.
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Automated systems can spot the most obvious offenders, which is undoubtedly useful, but humans are still needed for the finer judgment calls.

But as Mohan told the FT, the machine learning systems definitely have their place, even if it is to just remove the most obvious offenders. “Over 50 percent of those 11 million videos were removed without a single view by an actual YouTube user and over 80 percent were removed with less than 10 views,” he said. “And so that’s the power of machines.”
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guest · Sep 22, 2020

Ex-content moderator sues YouTube, claims job led to PTSD symptoms and depression
The worker watched videos that included beheadings, shootings and child abuse, according to the lawsuit
September 21, 2020
https://www.cnet.com/news/ex-conten...aims-job-led-to-ptsd-symptoms-and-depression/

A former content moderator is suing Google-owned YouTube after she allegedly developed depression and symptoms associated with post-traumatic stress disorder from repeatedly watching videos of beheadings, child abuse and other disturbing content.

"She has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares. She often lays awake at night trying to go to sleep, replaying videos that she has seen in her mind," says the lawsuit, which was filed in a California superior court on Monday.
She also has trouble being around kids and is now frightened to have children, according to the lawsuit.
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The proposed class-action lawsuit accuses YouTube of violating California law by failing to provide a safe workplace for content moderators and not doing enough to safeguard their mental health. Moderators spend more than four hours a day reviewing graphic video content because YouTube is "chronically understaffed," the suit says.
The former moderator, who isn't named, is seeking medical treatment, compensation for the trauma she suffered and the creation of a YouTube-funded medical monitoring program that would screen, diagnose and treat content moderators.
An unsafe work environment
The lawsuit against YouTube alleges the company failed to adequately inform potential content moderators about the negative impact the job could have on their mental health and what it involved.
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guest · Nov 13, 2020

Facebook is now using AI to sort content for quicker moderation
A little more machine learning in the moderation mix
November 13, 2020
https://www.theverge.com/2020/11/13/21562596/facebook-ai-moderation

Facebook has always made it clear it wants artificial intelligence to handle more moderation duties on its platforms. Today, it announced its latest step toward that goal: putting machine learning in charge of its moderation queue.

Posts that are thought to violate the company’s rules (which includes everything from spam to hate speech and content that “glorifies violence”) are flagged, either by users or machine learning filters. Some very clear-cut cases are dealt with automatically (responses could involve removing a post or blocking an account, for example) while the rest go into a queue for review by human moderators.
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Facebook employs about 15,000 of these moderators around the world, and has been criticized in the past for not giving these workers enough support, employing them in conditions that can lead to trauma.
Now, Facebook says it wants to make sure the most important posts are seen first, and is using machine learning to help.
Exactly how these criteria are weighted is not clear, but Facebook says the aim is to deal with the most damaging posts first.

Facebook says it ranks posts which involve real-world harm as the most important. That could mean content involving terrorism, child exploitation, or self-harm. Posts like spam, meanwhile, which are annoying but not traumatic, are ranked as least important for review.

“All content violations will still receive some substantial human review, but we’ll be using this system to better prioritize [that process],” Ryan Barnes, a product manager with Facebook’s community integrity team, told reporters during a press briefing.
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When asked what percentage of posts the company’s machine learning systems classify incorrectly, Palow didn’t give a direct answer, but noted that Facebook only lets automated systems work without human supervision when they are as accurate as human reviewers.

“The bar for automated action is very high,” he said. Nevertheless, Facebook is steadily adding more AI to the moderation mix.
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Mrkvonic · Nov 13, 2020

It can never work because culture and context are not translatable easily, if at all.
Mrk

guest · Nov 19, 2020

Facebook moderators press for pandemic safety protections
November 19, 2020
https://techxplore.com/news/2020-11-facebook-moderators-pandemic-safety.html

More than 200 Facebook content moderators demanded better health and safety protections Wednesday as the social media giant called the workers back to the office during the pandemic.

A petition signed by the contract workers living in various countries said Facebook should guarantee better conditions or allow the workers to continue their jobs from home.

"After months of allowing content moderators to work from home, faced with intense pressure to keep Facebook free of hate and disinformation, you have forced us back to the office," said the open letter released by the British-based legal activist firm Foxglove.
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But the social platform discovered limits on what remote employees could do and turned to automated systems using artificial intelligence, which had other shortcomings.

"The majority of these 15,000 global content reviewers have been working from home and will continue to do so for the duration of the pandemic," the spokesperson said.
The workers' letter said the current environment highlights the need for human moderators.
"The AI wasn't up to the job. Important speech got swept into the maw of the Facebook filter—and risky content, like self-harm, stayed up," the letter said.
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"The lesson is clear. Facebook's algorithms are years away from achieving the necessary level of sophistication to moderate content automatically. They may never get there."
The petition said Facebook should consider making the moderators full employees—who in most cases may continue working remotely through mid-2021.
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Open letter from content moderators re: pandemic

Foxglove is supporting social media content moderators in their fights for fair treatment from the platforms they work for, and for safe working conditions during the pandemic. Here is the full text of an open letter which over 200 Facebook content moderators from across the world have just addressed to Facebook’s leaders:
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guest · Jan 30, 2021

Watch Facebook Moderators Speak Out About Poor Working Conditions In Ireland
"We are risking our jobs."
January 29, 2021
https://www.vice.com/en/article/v7m...-out-about-poor-working-conditions-in-ireland

On Friday, Facebook content moderators in Ireland and members of Foxglove—a technologist activist group that has helped mobilize content moderators—held a press conference on YouTube after meeting with the country's deputy Prime Minister (Tánaiste) Leo Varadkar to speak out about working conditions at the tech giant and present demands for improving them.

For years, content moderators across the digital economy, but specifically at Facebook, have suffered performing the invisible labor necessary to function daily. At Facebook, their viewing and screening harmful content is essential to the platform’s existence, but content moderators are treatedly markedly different from employees in the company.
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Paria Mosfeghi, another Facebook content moderator who said she has worked there for years, voiced similar concerns at the press conference and in her meeting with Varadakar.

“The thing that has most bothered me in the years of doing this job is being treated as a second-class citizen. The people who supervise my work and do quality assurance are employees. They have real mental health [support], they have proper pay,” Mosfenghi said. “Facebook values their work—why doesn't it value ours? We want the same rights and protections as Facebook employees. [...]"

"Facebook has run in its workplace a culture of intimidation and needless secrecy for years. It's actually everyone's right to demand fair and safe working conditions in public."
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guest · Apr 18, 2021

'We're the tonsils of the internet': Buzzfeed reporter shares Facebook content moderator resignation
April 15, 2021
https://www.sfgate.com/tech/article/facebook-moderator-resignation-note-buzzfeed-news-16101524.php

This morning a Buzzfeed News senior tech reporter shared what appeared to be a harrowing account of what it's like to work as a Facebook content moderator.

The anonymous internal note signaling the employee's resignation was posted to Twitter by Ryan Mac in a series of nine screenshots. The supposed employee in question is based in Austin, TX and works for Accenture, a company that provides content moderation contractors for Facebook.
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The employee in question allegedly acknowledges that Facebook has made improvements to their wellness program, but still claims it to be inadequate, stating that managers view their employees' brains "as machines," rather than taking into account the consequences of workplace stress.

"Content analysts are paid to look at the worst of humanity for eight hours a day. We're the tonsils of the internet, a constantly bombarded first line of defense against potential trauma to the userbase."
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guest · Oct 19, 2021

Facebook content moderators protest low wages with mobile billboard
Moderators employed by Accenture will run a mobile billboard to demand higher pay
October 19, 2021
https://www.theverge.com/2021/10/19/22726915/facebook-content-moderators-protest-low-wages

Facebook moderators are protesting low wages at contracting agency Accenture in the form of a mobile billboard and an internal letter, according to a tip received by The Verge. Most of all, moderators say they just want to be treated as humans.

The content moderators, who are contracted by Accenture, will run a mobile billboard today targeting Accenture CEO Julie Sweet. The billboard features a picture of Sweet, along with a prominent statement that reads: “Julie Sweet stop exploiting your workers. Pay up. Clean it up. Fix it.”
Sweet made a total of $17 million in 2020 alone, a sum that shot up drastically from 2019. The mobile billboard will start its journey in Bethesda, Maryland, the very place that Sweet resides, and come to a stop in Washington, DC.
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Big tech companies like Facebook often outsource content moderation duties to third-party contracting firms, and Accenture is one of the biggest ones doing it.

Accenture has continually ignored moderators’ pleas for higher pay. Facebook moderators see some gnarly stuff, and it’s so bad that lawyers suing Facebook estimated that half of all moderators may develop mental health disorders.
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In the end, moderators at Accenture just want to be recognized as humans and feel valued for the work they do. “People often don’t realize that we are quite essential workers,” said the anonymous moderator during an interview with The Verge. “Without us, all of social media wouldn’t be useful at all.”
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xxJackxx · Oct 19, 2021

“Without us, all of social media wouldn’t be useful at all.”
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What's it useful for now?

guest · Dec 24, 2021

TikTok moderator sues over mental trauma caused by graphic videos
The lawsuit cites violence and even cannibalism.
December 24, 2021

A TikTok moderator has sued the social media platform and its parent ByteDance over trauma caused by graphic videos, Bloomberg has reported. In a proposed class-action lawsuit, moderator Candie Frazier said that she has screened videos showing violence, school shootings, fatal falls and even cannibalism. "Plaintiff has trouble sleeping and when she does sleep, she has horrific nightmares," the lawsuit states.

Compounding the problem, TikTok allegedly requires moderators to work 12-hour shifts with only a one-hour lunch and two 15-minute breaks.

"Due to the sheer volume of content, content moderators are permitted no more than 25 seconds per video, and simultaneously view three to ten videos at the same time," according to the complaint.
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Along with other social media companies including Facebook and YouTube, TikTok developed guidelines to help moderators cope with child abuse and other traumatic images. Among the suggestions is that companies limit moderator shifts to four hours and provide psychological support.

However, TikTok allegedly failed to implement those guidelines, according to the lawsuit.
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guest · Aug 5, 2022

TikTok moderators say they were shown child sexual abuse videos during training
A “daily required reading” full of horrific imagery
August 5, 2022

A Forbes report raises questions about how TikTok’s moderation team handles child sexual abuse material — alleging it granted broad, insecure access to illegal photos and videos.

Employees of a third-party moderation outfit called Teleperformance, which works with TikTok among other companies, claim it asked them to review a disturbing spreadsheet dubbed DRR or Daily Required Reading on TikTok moderation standards. The spreadsheet allegedly contained content that violated TikTok’s guidelines, including “hundreds of images” of children who were nude or being abused. The employees say hundreds of people at TikTok and Teleperformance could access the content from both inside and outside the office — opening the door to a broader leak.
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Teleperformance denied to Forbes that it showed employees sexually exploitative content, and TikTok said its training materials have “strict access controls and do not include visual examples of CSAM,” although it didn’t confirm that all third-party vendors met that standard.
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The allegations here go far beyond that limit. They indicate that Teleperformance showed employees graphic photos and videos as examples of what to tag on TikTok, while playing fast and loose with access to that content. One employee says she contacted the FBI to ask whether the practice constituted criminally spreading CSAM, although it’s not clear if one was opened.

The full Forbes report is well worth a read, outlining a situation where moderators were unable to keep up with TikTok’s explosive growth and told to watch crimes against children for reasons they felt didn’t add up.
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guest · Sep 3, 2022

Truth Social's inadequate moderation is keeping it off the Google Play Store
Google reportedly has concerns over certain content, including physical threats.
By Kris Holt @krisholt - August 30, 2022

Truth Social, the social media platform backed by Donald Trump, is still not available on the Google Play Store. That's because Google has yet to approve the app due to violations of standards and inadequate content moderation.

The company informed Truth Social earlier this month about "several violations of standard policies in their current app submission and reiterated that having effective systems for moderating user-generated content is a condition of our terms of service for any app to go live on Google Play," a Google spokesperson told Axios.

"Last week, Truth Social wrote back acknowledging our feedback and saying that they are working on addressing these issues.”
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Devin Nunes, Truth Social's CEO, said last week that it was up to Google to determine when the Android version of the app would be available on the store. However, Google asserts that Truth Social will need to resolve the moderation issues first.

The platform does apply a label to some posts indicating that the content "may not be suitable for all audiences." However, at least some content alluding to violence does not feature the banner.
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guest · Jan 2, 2023

TikTok says it’s getting better at detecting ‘borderline’ content
The app previously added age restrictions to some types of "mature" content.
By Karissa Bell @karissabe - December 30, 2022

For the past several months, TikTok has been working on new ways to age-restrict certain types of content as part of a broader push to ramp up safety features for younger users. The app unveiled a new ratings system earlier this year, called Content Levels, to help it identify more “mature” content.
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Now, the company has another update on those efforts. In a blog post, the company says that it’s launching a new version of its “borderline suggestive model,” which the company uses to automatically identify “sexually explicit, suggestive, or borderline content.” According to a TikTok spokesperson, the new model is better able to detect so-called “borderline content,” videos that don’t explicitly break the app’s rules, but may not be suitable for younger users.

TikTok didn’t offer specifics on how much more accurate the new system is, but it shared that in the last 30 days the company has “prevented teen accounts from viewing over 1 million overtly sexually suggestive videos.”
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guest · Jan 11, 2023

Meta denies African content-moderator firm exit poses risk
By Chris Vallance - January 10, 2023

Meta has denied harmful posts will escape review, after the contractor running Facebook's main moderation hub for east Africa, Sama, announced it would stop providing content-review services to social-media platforms.
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Meta said it had been "Sama's decision" and Sama blamed the "economic climate".

In May, a former moderator who claims the work harmed his mental health sued both firms.
Daniel Motaung says posts he reviewed showed beheadings and child abuse.
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'Legal options'
Sama said it would "let go" about 3% of its staff, mostly from the Nairobi office, where they remove posts flagged for review if they break the platform's rules, and focus on its computer-vision work.
They would receive wellbeing support for 12 months after their last day of employment, it said.

Mr Motaung's lawyer, Mercy Mutemi, said her legal team was "actively engaging" with workers affected by Sama's decision to end content moderation work and helping them assess their legal options.
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guest · Feb 7, 2023

Facebook's parent firm Meta can be sued by ex-moderator, judge rules
By Chris Vallance - February 7, 2023

A worker who alleges reviewing graphic social media posts harmed his mental health can sue Facebook owner Meta, a Kenyan labour court says.
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Daniel Motaung claims he was paid about $2.20 (£1.80) per hour to review posts including beheadings and child abuse.
He is also suing his then employer Sama, which Meta had contracted to review posts.

Meta argued that the court had no jurisdiction because the company is not based in Kenya, Reuters reported.
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In 2020, Meta paid $52m to settle a case brought by US content moderators over mental health issues which they said they developed on the job.

The Kenyan case is supported by Foxglove, whose director Cori Crider said that a key point had been established: "Daniel's win today should send a message to Facebook, and by proxy, all of big tech in Africa.

"Kenyan justice is equal to any tech giant, and the giants would do well to wake up and respect Kenyan people - and their law."
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Content moderation jobs for social networks are still terrible

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