Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation
Content moderation is commonly used by social media platforms to curb the spread of hateful content. Yet, little is known about how users perceive this practice and which factors may influence their perceptions. Publicly denouncing content moderation—for example, portraying it as a limitation to fre...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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SAGE Publishing
2024-11-01
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| Series: | Social Media + Society |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241286702 |
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| author | Ina Weber João Gonçalves Gina M. Masullo Marisa Torres da Silva Joep Hofhuis |
| author_facet | Ina Weber João Gonçalves Gina M. Masullo Marisa Torres da Silva Joep Hofhuis |
| author_sort | Ina Weber |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Content moderation is commonly used by social media platforms to curb the spread of hateful content. Yet, little is known about how users perceive this practice and which factors may influence their perceptions. Publicly denouncing content moderation—for example, portraying it as a limitation to free speech or as a form of political targeting—may play an important role in this context. Evaluations of moderation may also depend on interpersonal mechanisms triggered by perceived user characteristics. In this study, we disentangle these different factors by examining how the gender, perceived similarity, and social influence of a user publicly complaining about a content-removal decision influence evaluations of moderation. In an experiment ( n = 1,586) conducted in the United States, the Netherlands, and Portugal, participants witnessed the moderation of a hateful post, followed by a publicly posted complaint about moderation by the affected user. Evaluations of the fairness, legitimacy, and bias of the moderation decision were measured, as well as perceived similarity and social influence as mediators. The results indicate that arguments about freedom of speech significantly lower the perceived fairness of content moderation. Factors such as social influence of the moderated user impacted outcomes differently depending on the moderated user’s gender. We discuss implications of these findings for content-moderation practices. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-746dbdae3dd443c2a4478d20b59c9921 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2056-3051 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2024-11-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Media + Society |
| spelling | doaj-art-746dbdae3dd443c2a4478d20b59c99212025-08-20T02:07:56ZengSAGE PublishingSocial Media + Society2056-30512024-11-011010.1177/20563051241286702Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content ModerationIna Weber0João Gonçalves1Gina M. Masullo2Marisa Torres da Silva3Joep Hofhuis4Erasmus University Rotterdam, The NetherlandsErasmus University Rotterdam, The NetherlandsThe University of Texas at Austin, USAUniversidade Nova de Lisboa, PortugalAmsterdam University of Applied Sciences, The NetherlandsContent moderation is commonly used by social media platforms to curb the spread of hateful content. Yet, little is known about how users perceive this practice and which factors may influence their perceptions. Publicly denouncing content moderation—for example, portraying it as a limitation to free speech or as a form of political targeting—may play an important role in this context. Evaluations of moderation may also depend on interpersonal mechanisms triggered by perceived user characteristics. In this study, we disentangle these different factors by examining how the gender, perceived similarity, and social influence of a user publicly complaining about a content-removal decision influence evaluations of moderation. In an experiment ( n = 1,586) conducted in the United States, the Netherlands, and Portugal, participants witnessed the moderation of a hateful post, followed by a publicly posted complaint about moderation by the affected user. Evaluations of the fairness, legitimacy, and bias of the moderation decision were measured, as well as perceived similarity and social influence as mediators. The results indicate that arguments about freedom of speech significantly lower the perceived fairness of content moderation. Factors such as social influence of the moderated user impacted outcomes differently depending on the moderated user’s gender. We discuss implications of these findings for content-moderation practices.https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241286702 |
| spellingShingle | Ina Weber João Gonçalves Gina M. Masullo Marisa Torres da Silva Joep Hofhuis Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation Social Media + Society |
| title | Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation |
| title_full | Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation |
| title_fullStr | Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation |
| title_full_unstemmed | Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation |
| title_short | Who Can Say What? Testing the Impact of Interpersonal Mechanisms and Gender on Fairness Evaluations of Content Moderation |
| title_sort | who can say what testing the impact of interpersonal mechanisms and gender on fairness evaluations of content moderation |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/20563051241286702 |
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