The Artisan and the Decision Factory: The Organizational Dynamics of Private Speech Governance
The Artisan and the Decision Factory: The Organizational Dynamics of Private Speech Governance
Concerns about the spread of false information and hate speech over social media networks has renewed attention on how platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube govern content posted by users. Though these companies play an important role in the public sphere, they are private platforms, which (in many cases) gives these companies the leeway to govern content posted by users as they see fit. This chapter explores issues related to the private governance of speech by online platforms, and how the debate about online speech governance—present since the late-1990s—has shifted as new content concerns have emerged. The chapter examines three different strategies of content governance—artisanal, industrial, and community-reliant—that have been used by platforms as they sought to balance the need to be consistent and fair with content decisions, with the need to be flexible to local contexts and culture.
Keywords: platform governance, platform accountability, content moderation, Facebook, social media
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