Towards a normative framework for demotion of content

The Yeoh Tiong Lay Centre for Politics, Philosophy and Law is delighted to welcome Professor Paolo Carrozza and Professor Niklas Eder to present a talk based content moderation.

Shortly after the event there will be a drinks reception which you are all more than welcome to join.

Title

Towards a normative framework for demotion of content

Abstract

Demotion of content, also known as shadow banning or downranking, has long been the problem child of content moderation accountability: platforms' demotion practices are both impactful and notoriously opaque, allowing platforms to bury content without removing it. Typically, users are not notified when content was demoted and they do not have access to remedies. Demotion of content has been one of the areas where the power of platforms has remained unchecked and unchallenged. However, with regulations such as the EU’s Digital Service Act creating new rules for demotion, this finally seems to be changing. This event will provide an overview on practices of demotion, discuss new regulations on demotion, and offer overarching normative considerations that could guide the new accountability framework for demotion within the larger context of freedom of expression.

Paolo Carozza's Bio

Paolo Carozza is Professor of Law and Concurrent Professor of Political Science at the University of Notre Dame. His expertise is primarily in international human rights and comparative constitutional law, and he has published widely in these areas. He is a member of the Meta Oversight Board. He also serves as a member of the Council of Europe’s Venice Commission, was formerly a member and the President of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, and directed the Kellogg Institute for International Studies for ten years.

Niklas Eder's Bio

Niklas is a Senior Policy Officer at the Oversight Board and a Visiting Lecturer at the Dickson Poon School of Law. At the Oversight Board, Niklas leads work streams on automated content moderation and strategic governance. This includes developing human rights approaches to machine learning-based moderation systems and issues such as generative AI. The strategic governance work consists of developing and implementing strategies to respond to emerging regulations, with a focus on systemic risk assessments. Previously, Niklas was a Fellow at the Information Society Project at Yale Law School, where his research focused on assessing societal implications of AI and regulatory responses. Niklas has recently published the paper Making Systemic Risk Assessments Work: How the DSA Creates a Virtuous Loop to Address the Societal Harms of Content Moderation.