TY - JOUR
T1 - Flagging as a silencing tool
AU - Are, Carolina
N1 - Funding Information:
The author disclosed receipt of the following financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article: This work was supported by Research Councils UK > Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council EP/T022582/1. https://gow.epsrc.ukri.org/NGBOViewGrant.aspx?GrantRef=EP/T022582/1 .
Publisher Copyright:
© The Author(s) 2024.
PY - 2024/2/12
Y1 - 2024/2/12
N2 - This article investigates Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging through users’ experience. Similar to liking, commenting and sharing, flagging is a reaction social media platforms allow users to highlight content that potentially violates community guidelines. However, flagging’s influence on moderation remains opaque: users who flag are largely unaware about the success of their reports; those who are de-platformed cannot be sure if or why their content has been reported, making them feel targeted not just by platforms’ processes, but by the retaliation of audiences themselves. Since the impact of de-platforming on users, and particularly on content creators who work through platforms, can be huge, this study provides scope to investigate flagging as an online abuse technique.
AB - This article investigates Instagram and TikTok’s approach to malicious flagging through users’ experience. Similar to liking, commenting and sharing, flagging is a reaction social media platforms allow users to highlight content that potentially violates community guidelines. However, flagging’s influence on moderation remains opaque: users who flag are largely unaware about the success of their reports; those who are de-platformed cannot be sure if or why their content has been reported, making them feel targeted not just by platforms’ processes, but by the retaliation of audiences themselves. Since the impact of de-platforming on users, and particularly on content creators who work through platforms, can be huge, this study provides scope to investigate flagging as an online abuse technique.
KW - Censorship
KW - Instagram
KW - TikTok
KW - content moderation
KW - flagging
KW - platform governance
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85185245790&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/14614448241228544
DO - 10.1177/14614448241228544
M3 - Article
SN - 1461-4448
SP - 1
EP - 19
JO - New Media and Society
JF - New Media and Society
ER -