{"id":6911,"date":"2021-04-30T08:44:41","date_gmt":"2021-04-30T08:44:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/?p=6911"},"modified":"2021-05-04T14:24:38","modified_gmt":"2021-05-04T14:24:38","slug":"why-we-need-an-internet-that-works-for-people-and-is-led-by-people","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.greens-efa.eu\/dossier\/why-we-need-an-internet-that-works-for-people-and-is-led-by-people\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we need an internet that works for people and is led by people"},"content":{"rendered":"
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New study on “community-led online platforms”<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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03.05.2021<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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In our\nnew study on \u201ccommunity-led\nonline platforms\u201d<\/a>, we\u2019ve found that strong online communities and a\ntransparent bottom-up approach to moderating content is best for our online\nsafety and our digital rights.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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\"Online
Online democracy visual<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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Wikipedia is a household\nname. We\u2019ve all used it: whether it\u2019s at 2AM and we\u2019re reading about the\nworld\u2019s most baffling unsolved crimes, or it\u2019s in the middle of a family\nargument about which actor starred in that 90s television program. Over the last\ntwenty years, Wikipedia has become one of the most popular “community-led\nonline platforms\u201d. Anyone with an account can help to edit, moderate, and\nmanage the content posted in its articles. This way, Wikipedia taps into the\nknowledge and expertise of people around the world.  All posts are written by real people (rather\nthan auto-generated by bots) and online communities decide openly whether a\npost should be removed or not. As our new study\nhas found<\/a>, this community spirit is also great at combatting hate speech\nand cyberbullying. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The trouble with Tiktok: where did my content go?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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All of this is in stark contrast to companies such as\nFacebook, Twitter, Instagram, Tiktok and Snapchat, who use a top-down approach\nby removing posts with the help of the latest technology – like advanced AI\n(artificial intelligence). As these companies have grown, they have\ndeveloped complex technologies to avoid having to personally examine and curate\nthe swathes of data that are posted to their platforms every day. These\ntechnologies rely heavily on the removal of harmful and otherwise undesirable\ncontent. However, there are growing concerns about the impact of these AI-automated\ndecisions on freedom of expression and the digital rights of individuals\nonline.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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The rules that govern the responsibility of\nplatforms to remove and moderate content are murky and unclear. Companies face\nunduly short time frames for content removal and the threat of heavy fines for\nnon-compliance. Big tech platforms frequently over-comply with legal demands\nand swiftly remove large amounts of online content with no transparency and\npublic scrutiny. The sheer volume of requests inevitably leads to erroneous\ntakedowns, while too often hateful content, especially targeting minority\ngroups, remains online.  Most online\nplatforms do not divulge how they reach content moderation decisions and resort\nto deleting content without providing the user with an explanation. The lack of\ntransparency and accountability leaves us powerless in the face of these huge\ntech companies. Users are left scratching their heads about why their content\nwas removed.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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Social media icon \/ CC0 alexander-shatov<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n
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The internet is my social life: how can I build a strong online community?<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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This all has a very real effect on our daily lives,\nparticularly as we\u2019ve been spending more and more time online due to the COVID-19\npandemic. Online platforms aren\u2019t just for memes and cat pictures. For many\npeople, they now form the basis of our social lives. They are public spaces\nthat influence public debate and human behaviour. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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We need to make sure that the rules are clear so\nthat everyone can participate confidently and fairly. We need to make sure that\nour online communities are strong so that we\u2019re all safe from hate speech and\ndiscrimination. That our free speech – and the free speech of minority groups –\nwon\u2019t be violated by an automated bot using an algorithm based on biased or\ndiscriminatory code. <\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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We’re better than ever at building caring\ncommunities online. Great alternatives to the giant tech companies already\nexist, like Mastodon<\/a>, Diaspora<\/a> and Wikipedia<\/a>. And they\u2019re working. These decentralised, “community-led”\nplatforms are human powered. They give the power back to the users. They\ntry to strengthen their communities so that content moderation is considerably\nless necessary. When they do have to remove or censor content, they share the\nsame common goals:<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n

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