Findings

ARCH9090 2h

FINDINGS FINDINGS

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WHAT DID WE FIND OUT?

Overall, the findings of the collated questionnaire, interviews and twitter data, provided a thorough understanding of our topic of social media censorship and the purpose of this study. Each collation method provided in depth subjective data from a variety of people of different backgrounds, ethnicities and countries, resulting in a broad scope of information gathered to understand the issue. The aim of this data collection was to answer the purpose of the study where we aimed to understand society’s perspective on the operation of social media and their views on what should and shouldn’t be censored on these platforms. Dependant on their background and age, the findings varied throughout the survey, questionnaire and twitter data. Some of our key questions and findings throughout all the data collation methods included:

The types of people that use social media

The ages of people that use specific social media platforms

The demographic of people that are more involved in voicing social issues online

The amount of time people spent on social media platforms dependant on age How long different types of people spend on social media How social media usage differs from country to country

The awareness of what can and cannot be posted on social media platforms

Collating information about how people think social media data should be managed

Understanding personal opinions on what should and shouldn’t be censored

The findings in each data collation method varied due to the differences of questions that were asked in both interviews and questionnaires and the current information found on twitter. These findings will be further elaborated on in more depth below where there is a breakdown of each form of data collation and an overview of the information gathered.

TWITTER FINDINGS

By searching a variety of hashtags and following key political and organisational twitter groups, we were able to gather some quality data on this platform regarding the current social media censorship issues occurring. Our findings on twitter was mainly aimed at trying to collate data from a variety of different countries so we are able to compare it to the local questionnaire and interview data. Some of our key findings came from sources such as Chron, The Hill Corporation, Talk Radio, 7 Amleh and other organisations that had both factual and opinion-based insights on censorship online. By looking at this data, we were able to analyse different opinions globally and the current reforms put into place against social media censorship. Below are some of the retweeted relevant tweets that were found globally.

Figure 14: Search Bar Examples (Twitter, 2021)

EVALUATION OF RETWEETS

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Figure 15: Retweet regarding Turkish President’s views on social media censorship in Turkey

A tweet was posted recently that expressed the Turkish president’s view on social media censorship, voicing that he thought it was a “threat to democracy.” Erdogan’s main aim was to announce the need for stricter censorship on social media platforms in Turkey. Within the tweet, an article link discussed that the president aimed to criminalize the spread of “fake news” and false information that would land the perpetrator 5 years in prison (Maas, 2021). Within Turkey, the government is in control of regulating and monitoring social media where if a particular platform has more than 1 million Turkish users, it will need to have legal representation (Maas, 2021). Social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube have since developed offices within Turkey to ensure that the platforms are adequately regulated.

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Figure 16: Retween regarding quantative data on documented censorship from Arabic Organisation 7amleh

Another relevant retweeted article provided quantitative data from 7amleh, an Arabic Social Media Advancement company. The tweet included documented cases of social media censorship among a variety of platforms where the organisation themselves undertook a censorship study. This data was presented in a graph form, where Facebook has the most recorded censored items from September to December of 2021. Throughout this study, 7amleh found that there were 49 violations of human rights on Facebook, 25 on Instagram, 5 on Tiktok and 1 on twitter, with the social media platforms banning content on Palestinian rights. Although, the Palestinain issue is Geo-political issue of middle east (7amleh, 2021). The post demonstrated how social media platform could be biased on one opinion and curb the free speech of another.This can conclude that these platforms are either being influenced by political organisations, or more people are reporting on these particular platforms risking the free speech rights of the minorities.

In accordance to previous studies, the majority of Facebook users in 2021 are predominantly the older generation in comparison to other platforms. The majority of Facebook users are between the ages of 25-45 (Omnicore,2021) which may be a key factor to why many more posts are being reported in the 7amleh tweet. Users of Tiktok on the other hand are predominantly between the ages of 15-25 where there is less content being reported. Tiktok is also a new social media platform in comparison to Facebook, therefore also may be a contributing factor as to why there are not as many posts being censored.

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An interesting retweet we found was from England’s TalkRADIO where the interviewee Richard Tice is explaining his views on how he thinks there is “too much censorship” on social media. The retweet includes an short interview clip where Tice explains that his tweet got reported where the public were unable to like, comment or retweet his post. The post regarding COVID and his opinion on the effectiveness of wearing masks was challenged in the tweet where Tice provided his opinion on what he thought about the censorship of his post. The tweet was then deemed as ‘medical misinformation’ and was reported from Twitter (TalkRADIO, 2021). This interview looks through a different lens in comparison to 7almeh, where Tice explains that there is too much censorship occurring on these platforms and he is unable to voice his opinion without it being flagged. This information was interesting to evaluate whilst contrasting it to the Turkish government tweet, where one country is encouraging freedom of speech whilst another is wanting to place even more restrictions on what can be spoken about online. Figure 17: Retweet on the talkRADIO Richard Tice Interview on social media censorship

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Figure 18: Retweet on the Minds Twitter account regarding how censorship is affecting online businesses.

Minds, a neutral public form organisation retweeted that they believe social media is taking censorship too far and destroying countless businesses and people’s livelihoods by reporting posts that are not illegal. The organisation states that many posts being banned or reported are from small companies and businesses that are unable to defend themselves, being of detriment to their careers and livelihoods. Minds’ stance on social media censorship is that these platforms are banning unnecessary content that have a detrimental effect on its users. This idea of unnecessary censorship has been a reoccurring theme throughout the twitter findings where on numerous occasions, users believe that platforms are “over censoring” posts.

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Chron, an organisation in Houston, Texas tweeted information about a current event that occurred within their state, where a federal judge created a censorship law that prohibits social media platforms form banning content involving another’s pollical view. Gov. Greg Abbott on September 9th 2021, created the “House Bill 20” law that aimed to moderate content on large social media platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to make it increasingly enjoyable and safe for users. (Garcia,2021) This tweet has 1,682 retweets and was posted on numerous other platforms due to the immense support this law had from the residents of Houston. This tweet provided information on how strongly this state feels about public political opinion and Texas’ stance on freedom of speech on social media platforms. Figure 19: Chron article on federal judge creating a censorship law on social media

CONCLUSIVE TWITTER FINDINGS

From researching tweets by filtering through relevant hashtags and accounts, a variety of different opinions on social media censorship surfaced. As Twitter is a global platform the information gathered for the topic was broad and relevant where contrasting and similar opinions were able to be evaluated. From organisational tweets from Turkey, to talk show interview tweets in England, a variety of perspectives were gathered where some organisations deemed that they wanted an increased amount of censorship and others thought there was too much. These opinions from both individual twitter users and well-known organisations were valuable to understand the topic of social media censorship globally. Alongside the interviews and questionnaires data, the collated twitter data was valuable to understand a variety of different perspectives.

QUESTIONNAIRE FINDINGS

In order to gain additional research, a questionnaire was used to understand the public’s opinions on social media censorship, where 100 participants were surveyed to express their personal experiences on social platforms. The 9 questions were formulated specifically to gain an insight into what social media platforms are most frequently used, how long each participant spends on these platforms, their knowledge on censorship and who they think should monitor “inappropriate” content. The aim of collecting these questionnaires was to disperse them to a variety of people of different ages and backgrounds. To gain quality research, the answers needed to be inclusive of a broader pool of people to allow for a variety of opinions from different demographics. Below is a breakdown of the questions asked within the survey and a collation of findings from the data gathered.

Q.1 Please select the social media applications that you use?

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Q.1 FINDINGS:

The initial question aims to understand what social media platforms are used the most. The options that were initially provided were Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Tik Tok, where the sureveyees were either able to choose multiple options or provide a written answer in the “other” box. In the pie chart above it is clear that Facebook and Instagram have the most users out of the 100 participants that completed the questionnaire, where 34.82% use Facebook and 33.93% use Instagram. Tik Tok on the other hand is the third most popular, having 14.73% users, Twitter recieved 9.38% and the “Other” option recieved 7.14% where all participated that selected this, specified Snapchat. The findings from this question concluded that the most popular platforms were Facebook and Instagram.

Q.2 Please select the age group that applies to you?

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Q.2 FINDINGS:

The second question was specifically aimed to understand the age demographic of people being surveyed. The results concluded that majority of people surveyed fell under the 20-24 age bracket, where 34% of participants checked this option. 24% of participants were of 25-29 years of age, where the remaining were quite evenly distributed among the other age brackets. Collating data from a variety of different age groups is important to understand the differences in opinion in regards to social media censorship. Creating these subgroups where people are categorised according to age is vital when analysing social media as usage where opinions substantially differ depending on age and generation.

Q.3 How long do you typically spend on social media everyday?

Q.3 FINDINGS:

Total

(Qualtrics, 2021)

This question was used to understand the usage of social media among the ages. The answers were specifically grouped according to prior research on how long the average person spends on social media being approximately 2.5 hours a day. The data gathered throughout this questionnaire supported that claim, where majority of people checked the 1-2 hr and 2-3 hr box. 29% of people used social media more than the average amount daily and only 19% utilised it for less than an hour. The usage here is quite evenly distributed, however, on average, participants utilise social media 2.5hrs a day on average. This question was not only asked to understand the participants usage, but also may suggest the likelihood of people witnessing reported content or censorship on social media.

Q.4 Specify the reasons why you use social media? ( you may select more than one)

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Q.4 FINDINGS:

This question delves into the reasoning behind why people use social media where the data aims to find common reasons as to why these platforms are being utilised so frequently. The most common answer was unsurprisingly to contact family and friends where 23.51% of participants using social media specifically for communicative purposes. Closely behind with 20.20%, participants use social media to follow the news and subsequently use it for entertainment purposes with 19.87% of participants using these platforms to watch videos or play games. Surprisingly, posting photos and videos was only 18.21% concluding that participants prefer to use social media to contact people and follow the news as a pose to posting their own content.

Q.5 Has your social media content ever been reported, or have you ever reported another’s post?

Reasons why content was reported or the participants account was reported:

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Reporting innappropriate/ illegal content

Sport related post was taken down for being shared

War related images were reported Account reported for voicing political views

Reporting fake news

Reporting abusive / explicit content Reporting scam accounts or posts

Post got reported due to copyright

Reporting racist or homophobic content

Q.5 FINDINGS:

Question 5 aims to understand firstly if the participants have ever been reported or reported another account on social media and subsequently, and if they have, the reasoning behind this. The majority of participants checked “no” to this question where 82% of people claimed that they haven’t ever reported or been reported on any platform. However, the 18% of participants that claimed yes provided reasoning behind their answer, some of which were more prevalent among the answers. Above are some of the reasons participants provided as to why they checked yes, having the answers that were repeated more than once are shown in the darker blue shade. Multiple people had their account flagged or reported for voicing their political views as well as reported fake news on these platforms. Due to COVID 19, fake news and people’s political opinions has been prevalent over the past 2 years on social media, where many people are voicing their stance on the matter publically.The participants are therefore aware of this occurring, which may be the reason as to why reporting fake news and political views is a common answer.

Q.6 To what extent are you likely to agree that existing social media Terms and Conditions / Community Guidelines are reasonable in regulating the appropriateness of content?

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Q.6 FINDINGS:

The aim of this question was to understand how much people knew about what they should and shouldn’t post on social media and if they had read the community guidelines on the platforms they use. As expected, the highest percentage of people, 36%, checked the “not sure” category that states they haven’t read or seen the guidelines. However, 34% of people agree with the terms and conditions and believe that they know what can and cannot be posted on social media. Through these findings we were able to conclude that majority of participants hadn’t read the guidelines before joining the platform or on the other hand, had read them and agree that they are clear in identifying what users can or cannot post. Figure 20: Facebook sign up page (Facebook, 2021)

Q.7 What types of content, in your opinion, should be censored on social media?

Q.7 FINDINGS:

Question 7 delved into understanding the participants’ opinion on what should and shouldn’t be censored on social media. The options were collated from previous research both online and through personal experiences where there seemed to be a trend among the data gathered. Majority of people answered that they thought hate speech and fake news should be censored on social media followed by provocative content. This trend correlates to question 5 where majority of the answers were also fake news and hate speech. However the participants seemed to put less emphasis on censoring political opinion, only having 6% of participants check this box. Conclusively, the surveyees believe that political opinion should not be censored as much as fake news and hate speech on social media platforms.

Q.8 Do you know who currently monitors and regulates the appropriateness of content on social media?

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Common answers regarding who the participants think monitors and regulates content:

The Social Media Platform

5 Participants stated this answer

The Government

4 Participants stated this answer

Other

1 Participant stated Individual Companies 1 Participant stated that it depends on the country

Q.8 FINDINGS:

It was important when collecting the data, that we were able to understand if the participants knew who was in control of monitoring and regulating content on social media platforms. In the bar graph above, 90% of participants answered “no” to this question, signifying that they didn’t know who regulated the posts. However, within the 10% that checked yes, there were 3 main answers that were common amongst the majority. Many of the participants stated that they thought the social media platform themselves or the government was in control of monitoring content. 1 participant stated that they thought it depended on the country and another stated that individual companies and their “taskforces” were in control. On the whole, majority of the participants didn’t know who monitored or regulated the platforms they were using ,which concluded to be a key finding in understanding the limited knowledge the participants had on the topic of censorship on social media platforms.

Q.9 Who do you believe should be responsible for regulating and monitoring content on social media?

(Qualtrics, 2021)

Q.9 FINDINGS:

Question 9 is an opinion based question where the participants are asked who they think should monitor social media platforms. 59% of participants stated that they believe the social media platforms themselves should be in control of regulating the content posted, ranking as the top answer when collating the data. 18% then stated that they thought the government should monitor platforms, however surprisingly, 14% of participants believe that it shouldn’t be monitored at all. The fact that only 14% of people though that it shouldn’t be monitored at all signifies that the majority believe that content should be monitored and it should be the social media platform themselves that should report or censor posts.

INTERVIEW FINDINGS

The interview process was created to allow for the interviewees to express their opinions on social media censorship and elaborate on their own concerns on the current platform operation. The group as a collective decided to incorporate the most relevant and important questions into the interview, where every group member posed the same question structure. This allowed for the results to be consistent among all interviews so that the data could be easily analysed and evaluated. The interview was broken down into 4 sections which included characteristic questions, behavioural questions, attitude and opinion questions and finally knowledge questions. Within each section, there were key questions highlighted in red that we deemed to be the most important and valuable in terms of gathering data on social media censorship. Below is an overview of our findings according to the most common and relevant answers asked within the interview:

Questions Answers

Average age of interviewees 23-25 years old

What social media platforms do you use? Instagram, Facebook, Snapchat, Tiktok, Youtube, Whats App, Weibo (similar to twitter), WeChat (only used in China)

How long do you use social media per day? Usage varied from 1 hour to 12 hours. On average, majority of interviewees spent approximatly 6 hours on social media per day

Why do you use social media?

Have you ever had something that you’ve posted been reported or have you ever reported something that someone else posted on their social media platform? The most popular answers amongst all interviews were to connect and chat with family and friends, post photos/ videos, follow the news

Approximatley half of the interviewees had reported other content but had never been reported. They had reported content such as fake news, rumours and gossip, copyright

Have you ever looked at the terms and conditions before signing up to social media?

Interviewees opinions on current level of censorship of social media

Should social media be regulated? / What type of content should be regulated?

Do you voice your opinion on social issues online?

Who should be responsible for regulating and monitoring social media ? Majority answered that they had never read the terms and conditions or it was very unclear as to what they could and couldn’t post.

A variety of opinions were expressed on the current level on censorship ,maining dependent on the country the interviewee was from. The interviewees from Australia on average think that social media platforms should be increasingly monitored however private chats and converstations shouldn’t. In China however, the online protocols and increasingly strict in comparison to Australia where for example, content such as gambling are illegal to mention online. Although it is strict, interviewees don’t see this as a major issue.

Majority of interviewees suggested that social media should be regulated, however only on specific topics such as fake news, crime, abusive content etc. Many answers revolved around agreeing that users should have freedom of speech and be allowed to post what they want online. Therefore, content should be monitored to an extent.

Interviewees on average had very strong opinions on social topics however didn’t want to voice their opinion on social media. This was mainly due to the drama and backlash they may recieve from voicing their concerns on such a public forum.

The answers were fairly consistent among all interviews where majority of people thought the either the social media platform should be responsible or the government. Some answers also revolved around social media and the government undertaking this role together in a co-partnership to ensure that the platforms are properly managed.

INTERVIEW FINDINGS

Throughout the interview process, it was interesting to understand people’s opinions in regards to their experiences with social media and particularly censorship. As the interviewees were from different backgrounds and countries, a variety of responses were collated and compared to understand the effects of social media and how other countries control these online platforms. Majority of participants agreed that on the whole, social media should be monitored, however only to an extent. Many interviewees stated that there are many unnecessary reporting instances online which is hindering our freedom of speech. As social media is becoming more prevalent every year, where there are an increasing amount of users and new platforms emerging, the interviewees believe that they have become more aware of reporting and censorship due to their increasing usage during COVID 19.

False news and hate speech were topics of converstation throughout each interview where many participants stated has increased during the COVID 19 lockdown period. This is mainly due to people being more active online and therefore their concerns on social media platforms. Conclusively, the interview process was a great tool in understanding a vareity of different perspectives and gaining in depth information on the questions provided. The group was able to understand the knowledge the interviewees had on social media censorship, their personal usage and how it has changed over the years, their concerns about social media and most importantly, their personal opinion on what should be censored and who should be monitoring online platforms.

(Clinch, 2021)