The Challenges of Regulating Hate Speech on Social Media

Abstract

This chapter addresses the array of line-drawing problems, trade-offs, and technical challenges that accompany the moderation of hate speech on social media. The largest social networks have billions of users and operate across countries, cultures, and regulatory landscapes. The companies who provide these networks must draw lines that can be enforced consistently and objectively, and with minimal context. For instance, what does it mean when someone posts a picture of a neo-Nazi rally with the caption “wow”? Is this support or condemnation of the rally and what it stands for? How is a social media company to make this decision, and ensure it is applied consistently at massive scale? Further, how should differing power dynamics, regulatory regimes, and historical tensions influence the line-drawing that social media companies engage in every day? There is no worldwide consensus as to how to balance free speech against other values, such as safety and dignity, and yet social media companies must do exactly that, in a way that maximizes consistency and fairness for a worldwide user base. This chapter will explore these thorny problems in depth.