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Behind the Screen: Content Moderation in the Shadows of Social Media

Sarah T. Roberts

3.87 · Rating details · 75 ratings · 6 reviews

An eye-opening look at the invisible workers who protect us from seeing humanity’s worst on today’s commercial internet

Social media on the internet can be a nightmarish place. A primary shield against hateful language, violent videos, and online cruelty uploaded by users is not an algorithm. It is people. Mostly invisible by design, more than 100,000 commercial content ...more

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Hardcover, 280 pages

Published June 25th 2019 by Yale University Press

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Jun 12, 2019 David Wineberg rated it it was ok

Behind The Screen is a very superficial attempt to portray the lives of internet content moderators, those unfortunates who look at all the porn and the hate on social media, and give them a thumbs up or down. They are the maintenance crew of the internet. Browsing social media would be a horrific experience without them.

There are three levels of moderators, according to Sarah T. Roberts. One is to work directly at a company that does it. Or, work for a contractor that moderates for others, whi Behind The Screen is a very superficial attempt to portray the lives of internet content moderators, those unfortunates who look at all the porn and the hate on social media, and give them a thumbs up or down. They are the maintenance crew of the internet. Browsing social media would be a horrific experience without them.

There are three levels of moderators, according to Sarah T. Roberts. One is to work directly at a company that does it. Or, work for a contractor that moderates for others, which is called outsourcing. Lastly, there is home work, where moderators are paid to stay away. Not examined are the lives of freelancers, who surf the internet on their own, looking for gigs that last mere seconds, and pay one cent or so. They add tags to photos, check or write translations, caption images, categorize and classify, and determine what is porn or hate. They are the bottom of the heap.

Even at the top of the heap, those working directly at a social platform, tend to have no benefits, can’t use the facilities everyone else can, and have zero chance of this being a foot in the door, even if they take on side projects. They are second class workers with no hope of advancement. When they burn out, they are disposed of.

Despite the emphasis on the moderators, it takes Roberts 75 pages to introduce one and even begin to describe the grind. She interviewed three moderators at one Silicon Valley firm. And while she documents conversations with them about the trivial hiring process and the lack of benefits, she never bothers to ask senior management why it has policies against moderators staying more than two years or having to take three months off before applying for a second one year stint, why this path is a dead end, or how they came to implement such a system.

There follows a pointlessly bland trip to Manila to see outsourcing in action, but Roberts doesn’t compare working conditions (offices, teams, managers, hours) or highlight differences in job functions. She doesn’t speak to top management there either, and doesn’t follow through to see the effects of it all. It’s mostly about adopting American language and culture so they don’t screw up on behalf of American users. She also speaks at length with a Canadian expat in Mexico who runs an outsourcing operation. His concerns are mostly cultural too.

The one home worker she interviewed in depth was justifiably fed up with all the hate she had to read all day.

Behind The Screen leaves no impression of the life of a moderator. The most impressive thing anyone says in the book is that a completed shift is “like you spent eight hours just in this hole of filth.” Max Breen was the moderator who said it, and he also told Roberts not to bother trying the work herself. So she didn’t.

Neither does she examine the state of the freelancer, who, paid one cent per decision, can make up to $40 for a 12 hour day if they’re really good. She spoke to no doctors about the PTSD-like effects of doing this work. Instead, there is a long discussion of bogus therapy sessions for all who work at the Silicon Valley firm, though workers cannot request direct attention to their own plight, since they have no healthcare. She also doesn’t tie the moderators to the greater disease of the gig economy of precarity, no benefits and repetitive assembly-line jobs, where workers are not even considered employees, even though they’re in the same building. (This is far from unique to content moderation.) Or how totally isolated home workers pathetically try to recreate an office atmosphere with chat functions the company provides. Or how they plot to create unions for better pay and conditions. At the very end of the book she manages to mention that some moderators at Microsoft and Facebook are making claims in court over their treatment by the companies.

The book was an exercise in frustration. Long descriptions of Manila and Silicon Valley were space fillers that added nothing to understanding what goes on behind the screen. The lack of depth and follow through was surprising, and not in a good way. Roberts likes to speak of herself as an expert at the center of the issue, but she never demonstrates that expertise. There are no recommendations other than studies are needed, and her five or six interviews don’t count. Roberts has no answers and nothing new for me to tell you here.

islavery is a very hot topic. If it seems I know as much as Roberts does on this topic, it’s not true. I don’t. I have simply read far better books on it.

David Wineberg ...more

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Feb 19, 2020 Marks54 rated it liked it · review of another edition

This book is valuable for being informative about an emerging occupational structure developing along with the spread of social media on the web. It concerns the job of commercial content moderation (CCM), which comprises in some variety of forms the individuals whose job it is to review videos and other posts that have been flagged as being objectionable and determine whether the posts comply with firm policies and standards or not, in which case they are removed. It is a job largely done by pe This book is valuable for being informative about an emerging occupational structure developing along with the spread of social media on the web. It concerns the job of commercial content moderation (CCM), which comprises in some variety of forms the individuals whose job it is to review videos and other posts that have been flagged as being objectionable and determine whether the posts comply with firm policies and standards or not, in which case they are removed. It is a job largely done by people rather than AI algorithms. These workers are most frequently not a part of the main workforce of the firm for whom the moderation occurs, but are rather temp and contract stringers, often working at home and often working at a great geographic distance of the focal firm. How many people do this? Who knows, but by the end of the book, it is clear that the lower bounds of this workforce is in the tens of thousands of workers.

Who knew this was a thing? It is clear that this work has to exist if one thinks about it at all. Ever been blasted in a chat room? Think about what it would be with no moderation. Ever try to post comments to newspaper and newsfeed stories? The discourse you see there has already passed muster - what would it be like without moderation? How many times have I taken the wrong turn on YouTube and found videos that were gross or downright creepy?

So far, so good. Now what is the book about? Thankfully, it is not filled with disgusting images or links. The first story line in the book is just what the job entails and what type of people work it. This is really interesting, such as the first firm, which hires recent elite liberal arts grads to work as contractors for a major Silicon Valley firm. Not only is the gross nature of the work a part of the job, but this is also clearly a new installment of the digital sweat shop work that is popping up all over the globe that pays next to nothing for micro tasks required on a 24/7 basis and which gravitate to the areas with the lowest pay scales. Welcome to the new economy - same as the old economy in terms of treating the least of us.

A second line of argument in the book is about the potential harm and long term distress (sort of a digital PTSD) that may befall these workers. The author states this potential and then repeats the claim at regular intervals in the book. There are two issues though. First, most of the people interviewed claim that they adjust to the difficult work just fine but have heard about problems. Second, there is no evidence cited to support the existence of such damages to workers. It is not surprising that interviewees would say they were OK. Since the occupation is a new one, it is reasonable to think that the long term effects have yet to be documented. Fine, but all we are left with are the suspicions that damage is being done and not much more.

A third line of development in the book is the range of contexts in which this work occurs. Some firms are contractors to major cites. Others are off-shored call-center like operations in Manilla. Another is a boutique firm tied in with PR functions for a firm seeking CCM to defend its brand. All of these overlap, of course, but it is really interesting the variety of business models that seem possible. I am still wondering why the CCM function is nearly universally outsourced in some form even though it is so important for the public persona of the firm. The author tries to address this towards the end of the book but I remain puzzled. Perhaps it is me.

I had some issues with the construction of the book. First, this is clearly a trade book, but it reads as if it is trying to be an academic book, in which all the relevant prior research must be mentioned. (I know, it is her dissertation project, but the publisher can also use developmental editors.) I would have preferred the author telling the clearest and most compelling story and leaving some of the references to notes or perhaps and appendix - or even to refereed journal articles. Along with this, the book in spots is a bit repetitious, repetitive, redundant, and reiterative. Finally, it is clear that the author has some affinities with economic sociology, which is fine, but after the nth reference to the oppressive nature of post-colonial globalizing capitalism, my senses started to dull. It wasn’t necessary. The extra syllables do not add that much to the impact of the book.

Overall, the information value of the book makes it work reading. I was not asked to moderate its content further. ...more

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Jan 11, 2021 Daniel Lindholm rated it really liked it

En bok om det dagliga arbetet som sker bakom kulisserna på sociala medier, där människor i mindre välbärgade länder arbetar hårt för att filtrera bort oönskade element från nätverken så att de inte riskerar att nå slutanvändarna. Människor som offrar sin mentala hälsa för att möjliggöra det kraftigt friserade internet vi har idag.

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Dec 23, 2019 Micah rated it it was amazing

Content moderators are the digital janitors and waste haulers of the 21st century, and this book has a tinge of Upton Sinclair's "The Slaughterhouse" in how it reveals how these low-paid workers are often traumatized and exploited. Hopefully it will help drive the public and policy-makers to make some needed changes in how we regulate Big Tech. ...more

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Feb 21, 2020 Mary rated it liked it

The writer explores the lives of those who address online content issues behind the scenes. The unseen hands (and eyes) that do, indeed, keep on top of content matters make them the invisible heroes -- or villains -- of the new age of communications.

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Jan 07, 2020 Kendra rated it it was amazing

What's impressive is how well Roberts' work centers the moderators and does not feel tied to a particular moment...especially given the speedy shifts and focus on the content moderation space. ...more

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