To let content be or not be

Understanding the decision-making process of content moderators on social media platforms

Dados Bibliográficos

ID12655464
AutoresTapan K Chatterjee (0009-0000-7384-6830, The University of Queensland-Indian Institute of Technology Delhi Research Academy, India; The University of Queensland, Australia; Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, India, autor correspondente), Agam Gupta (0000-0002-9073-6673, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi), Pradip Thomas (0000-0001-8367-1106, The University of Queensland)
Ano2025
Data de publicação2025-06-25
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoNew Media & Society (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 1461-4448 • E-ISSN: 1461-7315
EditoraSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14614448251348900
OpenAlexW4411628944
IdiomaEN
Referências citadas25

Content moderation plays a pivotal role in structuring online speech, but the human labour and the everyday decision-making process in content moderation remain underexamined. Informed by in-depth interviews with 16 content moderators in India, in this research, we analyse the decision-making process of commercial content moderators through the concept of sensemaking. We argue that moderation decisions are made in the context of the industry’s plural policies and efficiency requirements. An interplay of four cognitive processes of pattern identification, subjective perceptions, shared knowledge, and process optimization influences the final judgement. Once sense is enacted in the decision-making process, the sensibilities are retained by the adept moderator for future moderation decisions. Visibilizing the labour process behind commercial content moderation, we argue that everyday moderation decisions unfold in a socio-technical and economic assemblage wherein decisions are decontextualised and plausibility driven rather than consistency driven

Content (measure theory · Internet privacy · Media content · Multimedia · Process (computing · Social media · Sociology · User-generated content · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Cybercrime and Law Enforcement Studies · Hate Speech and Cyberbullying Detection · Mathematics · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology