Content Moderation and Shadowbanning: Understanding the Implications for Social Media Users
Summary
Some social media users report experiencing the suppression, take down, and/or banning of their content, without their knowledge and users have identified this non-transparent form of content moderation as “shadowbanning”. In this study shadowbanning is defined as any form of content/account removal/suppression that is done by social media platforms without informing the user who experienced the removal/suppression.The purpose of this study is to uncover who is self-reporting being shadowbanned on social media platforms, specifically TikTok and Instagram, and how social media users’ perceptions of shadowbanning impact their experiences on TikTok and Instagram. Further, this study will investigate if these experiences of being shadowbanned impact social media user’s everyday lives. Finally, using the data collected, I will determine whether there are differences among users based on personal characteristics identified in this research.
Eligibility
Eligible gender: Male, Female, Transgender, Other
Eligible ages: 18 to 100
Accepts healthy participants: Yes
Inclusion criteria:
Social media users who 1) self-report having experienced non-transparent content removal (shadowbanning) 2) 18 years of age or older 3) are from Canada or the United States
Exclusion criteria:
You are not eligible to participate if you 1) do not use social media 2) have not experienced non-transparent content moderation (shadowbanning) 3) are under the age of 18 4) live outside of Canada or the United States
Participate
Additional information
Contact information
Milana Leskovac, graduate student
Principal investigator:
Dean Curran
Clinical trial:
No
REB-ID:
REB22-0164