Social Science Research Council Research AMP Just Tech
News Item

Moderating Social Media Discourse for a Healthy Democracy | University of Texas

The prevalence of hate speech and misinformation on the internet, heightened by the COVID-19 pandemic, directly harms minority groups that are the target of vitriol, as well as our society at large (Müller & Scwarz, 2020). In addition, the intersection between the two only exacerbates their harmful effects leading to an increase in intolerance and polarization (Kim & Kesari 2021). Current platform moderation techniques, as well as Section 230 under the Communications Decency Act, have been insufficient in addressing this problem, resulting in a lack of transparency from internet service providers, clear boundaries on user-platforms relations, and sufficient tools to handle a rapidly expanding internet.

[…]

Source: Moderating Social Media Discourse for a Healthy Democracy | University of Texas