[ecrea] CFP: All Things in Moderation

All Things in Moderation
The People, Practices and Politics of Online Content Review – Human and 
Machine

December 6-7, 2017
on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles Los Angeles, 
California, USA

Call for Participation/Proposals

Proposals due September 15, 2017

Notifications October 1, 2017

https://atm-ucla2017.net

*Background: Commercial Content Moderation and the Present Moment *

The phenomena, policies and material realities of workers involved in 
commercial content moderation (Roberts, 2014; 2017) – the organized, 
industrial-scale process of adjudication of online user-generated 
content - have made global headlines in the first part of 2017 at a 
level previously unseen in the public sphere. In the wake of a 2016 
American Presidential election, the role of social media platforms and 
the information they circulate online was largely questioned by a public 
concerned, for the first time in significant numbers, about the nature 
of the production of their social media content. It saw the introduction 
of terms like “fake news” into the general discourse. Subsequently in 
the first half of 2017, a series of highly publicized and violent, 
tragic events followed that were broadcast, in some cases, live to the 
world, on Facebook and other social media platforms, once again raising 
public questions about what and how material circulates online and who, 
if anyone, is doing the gatekeeping.

Additionally, several public revelations – many already known to 
researchers and many through the work of journalists – also came to 
light related to content moderation practices, including the fact that 
much of the labor of these adjudication processes is undertaken not by 
sophisticated AI and deep learning algorithms, but by poorly paid human 
beings who risk burnout, desensitization and worse due to the nature of 
their work. Facebook and platforms like it have been beset by leaks in 
the pages of major newspapers such as The Guardian (Solon, 2017) and Die 
Süddeutsche Zeitung (Grasseger and Krause, 2017) from disgruntled 
commercial content moderators, eager to make the public aware of their 
role and their working conditions. In Germany and Austria, legal 
channels have been employed to force social media platforms to respond 
to laws prohibiting the circulation of hate-related content (as defined 
in those jurisdictions), while other governments seek to restrict the 
speech of their citizens on seemingly less benign political grounds and 
ask Facebook and others to manage this need. On December 30, 2016, a 
landmark lawsuit was filed on behalf of two Microsoft employees who both 
claim that they have been rendered completely disabled by PTSD as a 
result of their moderation work.

In short, commercial content moderation – the firms that supply it, the 
companies that need it and the employees who undertake it – is having a 
moment. The topic has seized the public’s consciousness across academic, 
journalistic, technological and policy-making sectors, despite continued 
opacity, obfuscation and an unwillingness to discuss it on the part of 
social media firms who rely on such practices to function. It is a 
moment of particular and rare opportunity that offers interested parties the

chance to not only propose solutions to the problems raised by content 
moderation at such large, global industrial scope and scale, but indeed 
to reframe the kinds of questions that could and should be asked 
regarding such phenomena and all their implications.

*All Things in Moderation: A CCM Event *

All Things in Moderation is envisioned as a specialized symposium on all 
things commercial content moderation: its policies, procedures, and 
people. This two-day event brings together scholars, students, policy 
makers, activists, journalists and members of industry, all of whom have 
particular concern and relationships to CCM work, the impacts of social 
media, and its influence on social, political and economic spheres.

During the two days on site at UCLA, participants will engage in panels, 
roundtables and talks from parties who come to CCM from a variety of 
disciplines, sectors and points of intervention. Activities will include 
plenaries with journalists who endeavor to cover CCM and the tech 
industry, at large, and CCM workers themselves, willing to share their 
experiences and insight with others. In addition, the program will 
include keynote talks from key researchers, advocates and insiders 
working in this area.

This first-of-its-kind event is largely experimental, and so will rely 
heavily on the energy and expertise of participants. We look forward to 
the knowledge that you will bring to the symposium, and see it as both a 
chance to take the pulse of CCM as practiced and studied, as well as a 
means to develop a roadmap for CCM’s future.

To this end, participants are encouraged to submit paper proposals, 
panel proposals, roundtable proposals and other contributions as 
appropriate. There will also be opportunities to workshop and share 
formally and informally, around CCM from a variety of different key 
approaches, to include:

Some areas of concentration envisioned by organizers include (but need 
not be limited to):

·CCM and Policy: human rights; internet governance; transparency and 
control online; national cases; transnational CCM (e.g., Taylor, 2016)

·CCM and/as Labor: workplace practices; internal policies; worker mental 
health and wellness; workers’ rights; outsourcing, globalization and 
contract labor; CCM work and identity (race/gender/class/sexual 
orientation/ability/ethnicity) (e.g., Crawford and Gillespie, 2014)

·CCM Automation: algorithmic mechanisms; machine learning and training; 
computer vision; automated CCM tools and techniques

·CCM and the Law: US and international cyberlaw and its applications to 
CCM; lawsuits; EU and other governmental legislation; CCM as repression 
and speech restriction (e.g., Klonick, 2017)

·Histories of Moderation: online moderation pre-CCM; histories of online 
communities; comparative moderation studies (e.g., Postigo, 2009)

·Covering CCM: journalism and reporting on CCM and on tech; doing 
academic research on CCM

*Who Should Attend *

All Things in Moderation welcomes participants from across academic 
disciplines and research areas, such as information studies, sociology, 
legal studies, history, data science, computer vision, media studies, 
communication, policy studies, globalization studies and others. It also 
welcomes journalists, policy analysts, lawyers, engineers, programmers 
and anyone with an interest in CCM work and workers.


*To Submit a Proposal/Register *

Proposals can take the form of:

·Paper proposals – with preference for emergent work and/or work-in-process

·Panel proposals – made up of presentations organized thematically 
around a particular CCMissue or concern; submit a description of the 
panel and its component parts

·Roundtable proposals: hands-on, interactive sessions devoted to 
discussion and knowledge-sharing of the current state of affairs 
regarding CCM and a particular area of concentration (e.g.,EU 
regulations and CCM, 2017)

·Lightning talks – short, provocative idea sharing sessions of five 
minutes (or less)

·Other interventions – something that doesn’t adequately fit into these 
boxes that you would liketo share (please describe; to be planned in 
conversation with organizers)

*Proposals should not exceed 300 words and should be submitted via the 
conference registration site.*

*Proposals are due SEPTEMBER 15, 2017*. *Registration closes OCTOBER 31, 
2017*.

*Costs *

Thanks to the generous support of the UCLA Graduate School of Education 
& Information Studies, *conference registration is free*. Lodging and 
travel information and options can be found at the conference website; 
participants will be responsible for their own accommodations and travel 
costs. *SPACE IS LIMITED *in order to keep this event productive and 
successful. Please submit your proposal and register as early as 
possible in order to secure your place. Priority given to those 
registrants who submit proposals.

Hope to see you in December.

Convener: Sarah T. Roberts, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
University of California, Los Angeles
Department of Information Studies
Graduate School of Education & Information Studies

Conference Coordinator: Patricia Ciccone

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