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Content Moderation Is Terrible by Design

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Social media companies couldn’t exist in their current form without content moderation. But while these jobs are essential, they’re often low-paid, emotionally taxing, and extremely stressful — they require exposure to horrific violence, disturbing sexual content, and generally the worst of what we see (or don’t see) online. Do they have to be? Sarah T. Roberts, faculty director of the Center for Critical Internet Inquiry and associate professor of gender studies, information studies, and labor studies at UCLA, details the evolution of this work, from patchwork approaches to in-house moderators and contractors to the current prevailing model, where generalist contractors work in call center–like offices. There are steps companies could take to improve this work, including providing better technology for moderators as well as better pay and more psychological support. But improvement, at present, is more likely to come from worker organizing and collective demand for better conditions than from the firms that employ the workers or the companies that need the moderation.

Labor Content Moderation Is Terrible by Design A conversation about how to fix the front lines of the internet. by Thomas Stackpole November 9, 2022 Sarah T. Roberts Portrait: Studio Bon Labor The Big Idea Series / Incivility on the Front Lines of Business Content Moderation Is Terrible by Design A conversation about how to fix the front lines of the internet. by Thomas Stackpole November 9, 2022 The Big Idea Series / Incivility on the Front Lines of Business Summary . Social media companies couldn’t exist in their current form without content moderation. But while these jobs are essential, th

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