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SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP

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WHAT IS SOCIAL MEDIA?

The term social media is an overarching definition that commonly refers to a collection of differing virtual platforms that facilitate the establishment of communication pathways on a local and international scale.

Facebook: Founded in 2004 in the United States (Nations, 2021).

Instagram: Founded in 2010 in the United States (Stegner, 2021).

Twitter: Founded in 2015 in the United States (Forsey, 2021).

Tiktok: Founded in 2016 in China (Porter, 2021).

‘Social Media’

Indicates the connection and interaction of individuals sharing, sending and receiving information. Encapsulates the underlying method of communication, such as the internet or more traditional forms being TV and radio (Nations, 2021).

The term social media is multifaceted and encompasses numerous subcategories. Whereby, the main features and tools of many social media platforms ultimately include:

Personal Public and Private Accounts / Profile Pages Friends, Followers, Group Chats and Hashtags Newsfeed, Personalisation and Notification Information Updating, Posting, Sharing and Saving Likes and Comment Sections Review, Rating or Voting Systems

Websites and apps have revolutionised the way humans interact, communicate and express themselves on a daily basis (TAPIA, 2021). The four most popular social media sites currently operating include:

DID YOU KNOW...

1) There are currently 3.78 billion social media users worldwide (48%) (Oberlo,2021). 2) The daily time spent on social media worldwide increased from 90 min per day in 2012 to 145 min per day in 2020 (Statistica, 2020). 3) 88% of teens have witnessed another bullying another on social media (Guardchild, 2021). 4) 86% of the population aged 18-29, 80% of 30-49 year older, and 64% of 50-64 year olds use social media daily (Statistica, 2020). 5) 32% of teen girls say that Instagram has made them feel worse about their bodies (Northeastern,2021). 6) An account on instagram will typically get taken down after 3-4 reports (Gramto,2021) 7) From January to June 2021, a total of 351,471 user’s information has been requested to facebook by governments (Meta, 2021). 8) From July to Dec 2020, a total of 38,524 legal demands were made by governments to remove accounts from twitter (Twitter, 2020).

SOCIAL MEDIA: DOUBLE EDGED SWORD?

Social media has played a vital role from overturning totalitarian regimes to becoming a potential threat for social unrest through hate speech. Various cross-organisations have attempted to stabilise this entropy of information, which is disputed on the grounds of freedom of speech and social appropriateness. Censorship through Algorithms, Community Reports and Government have the key players in regulating the content, introducing their respective partisanship into the process.

ALGORITHMIC CENSORSHIP

Although it is widely assumed that AI based algorithms minimise bias in regulating content, researchers have revealed the existence of ‘Algorithm Bias’. Evidence demonstrates the algorithms intended for regulating hate speech have in turn propagated it, as they lack the ability to understand the context. For instance, studies show that the African American lingo was increasingly prone to be categorised as derogatory (Lim & Alrasheed, 2021). Latest interdisciplinary studies are working towards shifting from Algorithmic governance to Governance of Algorithms (Ebers & Cantero Gamito, 2021).

COMMUNITY CENSORSHIP

Social media conglomerates depending upon the ‘User-reported’ content, is a major form of content regulation, which is reviewed against the company’s established community guidelines and policies. Although the reporting received is reviewed by moderators, the method poses the threat of silencing the unpopular opinion and amplifying the majority voice. For instance, the song ‘Freedom for Palestine’ by celebrated artist Coldplay was banned on Facebook due to extensive reporting by users (Lim & Alrasheed, 2021).

GOVERNMENT CENSORSHIP

The freedom on social media varies from country to country, with some countries like China and Iran imposing complete ban, while other Asian countries heavily monitor the content (Armstrong, 2021). Transparency reports from Facebook and Twitter reveal an increasing trend of government’s demand on censoring ‘anti-regime’ content, with Turkey making the highest request for censoring user accounts from 2016 to 2019 (Meta, 2021; Twitter, 2020). Reports exist that demonstrate bias by social media on request by the governments towards activists in disputed territories, however on the other hand, disclosure of information by the social media companies have also saved human lives (Lim & Alrasheed, 2021; Warraich, 2017). For instance, an event of data shared to the UK and Indian government prevented a person from suicide and helped the government catch criminals, respectively (Meta, 2021).

KEY CONCERNS

The main concerns that have been identified with social media specifically revolve around three key questions:

Governance: To what extent should government, companies or technology be involved in regulating social media platforms? Monitoring: To which extent should social media platforms be monitored? Freedom: How do we understand freedom of speech in social media?

FOOD FOR THOUGHT

There is no doubt that social media has changed today’s society and the way in which the world operates. Social media can be looked at through both a positive and negative lense, due to it being a platform that can be used as a way to connect and communicate with people in a split second. In today’s society, people of all ages rely on social media, where on average an individual will spend up to 145 minutes on a variety of social media platforms daily (Northeastern News, 2020). Debates around freedom in social media has come to the surface in recent years, therefore it is necessary to comprehend the community’s perspective to ensure the fair, equitable and safe use of these platforms.

Furthermore, issues regarding who is in control of these social media platforms, what we post on these online applications and to what extent should these social media forums be regulated, are required to be addressed. Should the Government be in control of what is posted, should schools and education facilties have a say, or should the responsibility remain with the social media platforms themselves? These questions need to be resolved, as internet “trolling” and restricted content seems to be having a detrimental effect on users. Social media is an ever evolving phenomenon, thus we need to question how do we continue to monitor this and attempt to understand the ramifications that accompany the use of these online applications for future generations.

Image One: Censoring particular words can misconstrue and disassembles the message trying to be evoked (Global Voices, 2021).

Image Three: Statistics of the percentage of social media users by generation (Oberlo, 2021).

Image Five: Free Speech Suffocated (Castillejos, 2021). Image Two: The effects of social media on the brain forces this addictive cycle (Clark, 2021).

Image Four: Social Media Suppression (Armstrong, 2021).

Image Six: Social Media a source for (Mis)information (Whamond, 2021).

SOCIAL MEDIA CENSORSHIP

Comment removed for bullying or harassment

Posted December 1 at 1:59 PM

Sam Adams Riley Davis Should we be monitoring this?

Think we made a mistake? Let us know. There is no doubt that social media has drastically changed the way we all stay informed and communicate both on a local scale and internationally. With the popularity of these platforms significantly increasing at an uncharted rate many questions regarding censorship and freedom of speech have been raised, specifically should it be regulated, who is in control and to what extent

should it be monitored?

To help us gain a greater insight into this we are currently seeking volunteers to aid us in our investigation into themes surrounding censorship guidelines for social media platforms. As a participant you will have the opportunity to share your thoughts through a questionnaire and a survey that will feed directly into our research project.

IF YOU WOULD LIKE A SAY IN HOW YOU CONTINUE TO USE SOCIAL MEDIA and you

are over the age of 18 years then we would love to hear from you! For more information or to sign up please use the following contact information:

(02) 9351 2222 mail@haveyoursay.com.au

CONSENT FORM

QUESTIONAIRE

Welcome,

The study is conducted as part of class exercise for ARCH9090 Dialogue, Deliberation and Engagement at unit of study with Architecture, Design and Planning at the University of Sydney.

Your participation in this survey will help us understand your experiences and opinions on different social media platforms. Participation is voluntary and your responses will remain anonymous.

Q1. Do you agree to participate in the survey? YES, I agree NO, I do not agree

Q2. Please select the social media applications that you use: Facebook Instagram Twitter Tiktok I don’t use social media Other: Please Specify

Q3. Please select the age group that applies to you: 10-14 15-19 20-24 25-29 30-39 40-49 50-59 60-69 70+

Q4. How long do you typically spend on social media everyday? Less than an hour 1-2 hours 2-3 hours 3-4 hours 5+ hours

Q5. Specify the reasons why you use social media? (You may select more than one) To post photos and videos Contact family and friends Entertainment (videos & games) To follow the news Shopping Advertising Campaigning Other (Please Specify)

Q6. Has your social media content ever been reported, or have you ever reported other’s post? YES (please explain the incidence). NO

Q7. 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? Strongly Agree: The conditions of use are clear and I know what can and cannot be posted. Agree: The conditions of use are somewhat clear and I roughly know what can and cannot be posted. Disagree: There is minimal information and the reasons behind why I can’t post certain things is unclear. Strongly Disagree: They don’t provide enough information and I don’t understand the reasons why I can’t post certain things. Not Sure: I’ve never looked into the conditions and guidelines.

Q8. What types of content, in your opinion, should be censored on social media? (Please explain your answer) Political Opinions Satire Bulk Forward Messages Fake News Hate Speech Provocative Other (please specify)

Q9. Do you know who currently monitors and regulates the appropriateness of content on social media? YES (please specify) NO

Q10. Who do you believe should be responsible for regulating and monitoring content on social media? The social media platform itself The Government Private Organisations e.g. Schools, Workplaces etc It should not be monitored Other (please specify)

We thank you for your time spent taking this survey. Your response has been recorded.

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW QUESTIONS

Interview Legend: General Question & Starred/Key Questions

Introduction/Overview (Approx. 1 min)

Today's interview will analyse your views and usage on social media, particularly your opinion on censorship and the operation of different social media platforms. Your answers will be used for further analysis to elaborate on the issue of censorship currently and allow us to gain an understanding into your personal experiences with these platforms.

If you could please state if you would like your answers to remain anonymous and if you give us your consent to quote you for our research.

Characteristics (Approx. 3 mins):

1. If you are comfortable, could you please share your name and age? If not we can move onto the next question. 2. What is your background, are you currently working, studying, etc.? 3. On average how many hours would you say you work in a week/study?

Behaviour (Approx. 6 min):

4. What social media platforms do you currently use? (A lot of emerging social media platforms in this day and age has prompted people of all ages to create accounts, whether it being to connect with people, entertainment purposes and so on) 5. Would you like to share how long you use each of the social media platforms per day? - During that time what are you generally using it for? (Do you use it for contacting friends/ family, posting videos/photos, following news, shopping/market place, campaigning ? ) 6. Has your usage of social media platforms changed since 5 or 10 years ago? - What did you used to use back then? - Have your reasons for using social media changed over the years? 7. Did you ever witness anything being demonetised or reported whilst using those social media platforms in previous years? - What type of reported content has there been? 8. Have the incidences of reporting escalated in recent years? - Why do you think that is? (Is there more awareness around it now? Is that why you are noticing it more?)

Attitude/Opinion (Approx. 6 mins):

9. 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? - Can you provide some background in regards to why this content was flagged? - If you haven’t, have you ever come across anything that has been reported? It can be a comment, accounts or videos. Explain what happened? - Do you agree or disagree with the decision? - Did the platform take action to censor the content?

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

11. Do you know what they say about posting “inappropriate content?” 12. Do you think that adding this information into the terms and conditions is an appropriate way to let people know what they should and shouldn't post? 13. How do you think social media should inform people on what to post and what not to post on social media? (Giving monthly updates through email? Creating a video to engage people into what they should and shouldn’t post?)

Knowledge (Approx. 5 mins):

14. What type of content do you usually post on different platforms?

15. Do you know who monitors and regulates the presentation of “appropriate” content on social media?

16. If you were about to upload a post on one of your social media platforms, would you say that you are confident in knowing what is appropriate or inappropriate content to post? 17. How enthusiastic are you about social issues? - Do you voice them, or would you voice them? - Do you think discussions of such topics should be allowed on social media?

Expectations (Approx 7 mins): 18. Should social media content even be regulated? 19. What type of content do you think should be regulated?

20. Do you think that people should have the freedom to post and say what they like on social media? - For example, if someone posted something that they didn’t intend any harm to, however someone took offence to the comment or post, do you think it should be deleted without warning? - The issue of fake news circulating on social media is currently a hot topic at the moment, do you think that this should be monitored, or are people permitted to voice their opinions however they see fit?

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

(Do you think the government should be, schools and workplaces, the social media platform themselves?)

IN-DEPTH INTERVIEW - VERBATIM TRANSCRIPT

Interviewer: If you are comfortable could you please share your name and age.

Interviewee: My name is Joshua Ram and I am 23.

Interviewer: What is your background, are you currently working, studying, etc.?

Interviewee: Yeah I’m doing both at the moment, so I study full-time and working part-time.

Interviewer: Okay too easy, and on average how many hours would you say you work and study in a week?

Interviewee: Um to working is 15 hours per week. Studying is a bit harder to figure out, um lets just say 20 hours.

Interviewer: Yeah perfect. Alright so the first question regarding social media, so what social media platforms do you currently use?

Interviewee: So I use Facebook, Instagram and yeah I think that’s everything that I use.

Interviewer: Perfect. Would you like to share how long you typically use those two social media platforms?

Interviewee: Um so I use Facebook for messaging mainly. So would that count in how long I’m using that?

Interviewer: Yes I would include that.

Interviewee: Yeah so um frequently throughout the day including messaging but Instagram I mainly check that once a day.

Interviewer: So during that time what do you typically use it for? Obviously Facebook for messaging then but what do you use Instagram for?

Interviewee: Just to keep up to date with people I guess to look at stories and recents posts and then Facebook I might scroll through my feed at the end of the day.

Interviewer: So do you think that over the last 5 to 10 years your use of social media has changed at all? Like were you using different apps back then to what you are using now?

Interviewee: It has definitely declined a lot since High School. I feel like in High School I was using it a lot more um back then and since then I’ve kind of slowly stopped caring about it.

Interviewer: Yeah that’s fair. Were you using anything different back then?

Interviewee: Um Snapchat was more back when I was younger, that I don’t really use anymore. Um just trying to think if there were any other things. No there weren’t any other major ones.

Interviewer: And what are your reasons for this change is use? Like you said you reduced the amount of the time you spend on social media, is there a reason for that?

Interviewee: Just a lack of interest. Yeah just kind of growing up I guess. But yeah there’s no real need for me to use it anymore, other than to keep up with messaging people and I don’t post that much at all. I think the last post I made was to get people to do my survey [laughs].

Interviewer: Yeah that’s fair enough. Okay so next question, did you ever witness anything being demonetised or reported whilst using those social media platforms in previous years?

Interviewee: No not on those platforms but I have seen it happen on Youtube. But I wasn’t sure if that was a social media because that a different kind of platform. But yeah um not on Instagram or Facebook, no I haven’t.

Interviewer: Okay so do you think incidences of reporting has increased over the years at all?

Interviewee: Um I think people are more aware of the system and how it works now, so people can collectively target something in order to get it removed. Um I think people were reporting back then but I just don’t think it was a targeted strategy.

Interviewer: Perfect. Um so have you ever had something that you’ve posted been reported or do you know someone like a family or friend that has had something of theirs, either a comment or post, being reported?

Interviewee: Yeah I’ve actually had a comment taken down from Facebook. I tagged one of my friends in something, like a meme or something, and it was in reference to like something that had happened but I think, I don’t know if it was automatically done or someone reported but it contained something that went against community guidelines or something but I don’t know, it was stupid and I didn’t agree with it.

Interviewer: Yeah I was about to ask you if you agreed with the decision?

Interviewee: Yeah no it was ridiculous what that was.

Interviewer: Did you get an option to dispute it at all?

Interviewee: No, they just gave me the message that it had been removed um because it went against the terms of service or something.

Interviewer: Okay so one of our first sort of starred questions is have you ever looked at the terms and conditions before signing up to any of these social media?

Interviewee: No none of them. I don’t think anyone does. I’d be surprised if anyone answers yes to that [laughs].

Interviewer: So in regards to that do you know what is appropriate and not appropriate content to post? Like if you haven’t read it, do you personally know what you can post?

Interviewee: Yeah like I guess it’s just common sense. Um so obviously things like nudity wouldn’t go on there, like um hate speech, racism all those sorts of things aren’t appropriate for social media. So I think there are obvious things that like when you know you do something wrong it’s not going to be allowed so I guess but yeah um specifics I wouldn’t know.

Interviewer: Okay yeah so do you think the current community guidelines are an appropriate way for letting people know or should there be another way for these platforms to let us know what is appropriate or not appropriate? Because as you said you haven’t read them, so people are often just guessing sometimes on what they can post.

Interviewee: I think that within the signup process there should be some sort of interactive thing. Like how games and tutorials have an explanation of how to use them there should be a similar guide. If this is such a big problem within social media we should have more of a sort of, sorry just trying to find the word um but they should put more effort in in educating the user base before signing up and knowing what is right or wrong rather than just a legal list of terms that no one is ever going to look at.

Interviewer: So more like plain English, something that everyone can understand.

Interviewee: Yeah exactly.

Interviewer: Alright so what type of content do you usually post on your platforms?

Interviewee: Um so I don’t post regularly at all but let's say if I go sight seeing or somewhere that’s nice I’ll post that or say I’m at a big social event and take some nice photos I’ll post that up. Um but other than that I don’t really do much.

Interviewer: Alrighty so what type of content do you interact with then?

Interviewee: Yeah so I’ll look at people’s stories to see what they’re up to. Um also on Facebook I follow companies to keep up to date on what’s going on and also just memes and stuff.

Interviewer: Yeah perfect. Alright so do you actually know who monitors and regulates content on social media?

Interviewee: Um I think it’s up to the individual companies right?

Interviewer: Yeah that’s right. So if you were about to upload a post on one of your social media platforms um would you say that you are confident in knowing what is appropriate or not appropriate content to post?

Interviewee: Somewhat yeah. I don’t know that fine intricacies of it because sometimes it might be just one little thing flags it but generally yeah.

Interviewer: Yeah that’s fair. Um so the next question is how enthusiastic are you about social issues?

Interviewee: Um no not really.

Interviewer: Do you think that people are allowed to voice their own opinions on social issues on social media, do they have a level of freedom of speech?

Interviewee: Yeah definitely I think that they have the right.

Interviewer: So in terms of that though there’s a discussion between freedom of speech and fake news, do you still think it’s appropriate and how do you regulate that? It’s difficult when someone has an opinion and you try and monitor that, where do they draw the line?

Interviewee: Yeah um that’s a tricky one because people have the right to express themselves but then in saying that whatever they say shouldn’t be taken to heart so to speak like you have the right not to listen as well. It gets a bit hard when but I guess it comes down to the individual like if you kind of blanket everything because not everyone is going to believe like fake news but some people are more susceptible to that so I guess it’s really hard to monitor and um develop something that would keep that at bay without banning it because if you go ahead and ban everything then you run into the problem of censoring information. And yeah um that’s what I’ve been noticing as well like on a lot of posts there would be automatic information banners that would say oh this information sorry click here for more information on this topic which makes things worse I think because it’s like okay why are you trying to push this sort of thing? There’s heaps of issues that could have this towards it and why is it only certain information that is an issue? So I think there is no real easy way of going about it.

Interviewer: Yeah exactly. It’s just like you said before like if you had something that you posted reported and you can’t dispute it then it’s no longer freedom of speech then is it?

Interviewee: Yeah exactly! But then again it’s their company and they can dictate what they want on their platform. It’s different to going out on the street and shouting it because you signed the terms and conditions.

Interviewer: Next one, so should social media content even be regulated? Do you think there is a need for it to be regulated?

Interviewee: There has to be some sort of form of regulation I guess against like illegal activities because you don’t want people running ramped say on the dark web but I think it should operate at a sort of low level and not be intrusive. I think right now it’s moving to something that is becoming intrusive which is a worry.

Interviewer: So in your opinion what type of content should be regulated? Like hands down someone shouldn’t be allowed to post that type of content?

Interviewee: Yeah so um things involving crime so like say maybe even things involving violence but it depends if it’s real or not because you then get movies and all that where it’s fiction, so um real graphic things like that shouldn’t be allowed. Hate speech and all that, like um real bullying not just like um what Twitter would call bullying but actual targeted bullying and attacks on people shouldn’t be going on.

Interviewer: Yep perfect. So do you think that people should have the freedom to post and say what they like on social media? For example like if someone posted something that they didn’t intend any harm to but someone took offence to it, do you think it should be deleted without warning?

Interviewee: No, if it’s not meant to be offensive and fundamentally isn’t offensive but someone has taken offence to it then it shouldn’t be taken down at that one person’s expense.

Interviewer: So the next question is about fake news, so the issue of fake news circulating on social media is currently a hot topic at the moment, do you think that this should be monitored, or are people permitted to voice their opinions however they see fit?

Interviewee: Personally I think it’s up to the individual to investigate what they see and question it themselves. I know it does pose a big risk but if they are that easily swayed by that like they could be easily swayed by anything really. Within the media they do things like this all the time but obviously a lot less full on. I know when Facebook when a meme gets posted and mentions covid or vaccines or something there would be constant banners everywhere saying this isn’t real information, I think that causes even more distrust almost because it’s kind of for just one thing rather than for so many other things. So I think that they kind of need to take a step back and let people do their own sort of research instead of being force fed this in a way.

Interviewer: Yeah definitely. Okay so last question for today, who do you believe should be responsible for regulating and monitoring content on social media? Should it remain with the social media platform or should there be a different party that is monitoring it?

Interviewee: I think it should fall to the um company that runs it because it is their own platform, their own private company and they should deal with it how they see fit. If the individual doesn’t like how it’s being run then I guess they have the option to leave or something but I guess that becomes a problem in the sense when there is societal pressure on all these platforms and you kind of miss out on certain aspects of your life if you’re also not involved in that. It’s a hard one though [laughs].

Interviewer: So say you’re at school, should a school have a say in what their students post because again you have a reputation to uphold? What about workplaces and private companies?

Interviewee: Yeah it’s very tricky [laughs] but then it’s also like the division between your own personal life and professional but with that I think that people have a right to sort of a personal little bubble that is separate from that but when it starts going public and affecting the image of the company or school then they also have a right to remove certain content that doesn’t match their image.

Interviewee: That is all of our questions for today. I just wanted to say thank you for your time and your honesty in answering our questions today. Hope you enjoy the rest of your afternoon.