iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

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Jan Zilinsky @janzilinsky.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Also, terrible behaviors have become normalized online, many people get attacked, yet we... seem to be keen to use social media anyway? In a new report w/ @yannistheocharis.bsky.social, @friederikeq.bsky.social @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social, @franziskapradel.bsky.social we document these experiences:

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Our data show: 🔹 Most people want some level of content moderation—but opinions vary on who should be responsible. 🔹 There’s strong public concern about misinformation, toxicity, and online harm. 🔹 Many users feel platforms aren’t doing enough—but they also worry about overreach.

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

Thrilled that our report "CONTENT WARNING: Public Attitudes on Content Moderation and Freedom of Expression", launched today, has received a very warm reception by the media! 📖 Read the coverage: www.zeit.de/news/2025-02... More info below on some of the questions we tackle 🧵👇

zeit.de

Gewalt im Internet: Umfrage: Mehrheit wünscht sich Kontrolle in sozialen Medien

Hier finden Sie Informationen zu dem Thema „Gewalt im Internet“. Lesen Sie jetzt „Umfrage: Mehrheit wünscht sich Kontrolle in sozialen Medien“.

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 11/02/2025

This research wouldn’t have been possible without an incredible team: 🎓 @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social 🎓 @janzilinsky.bsky.social 🎓 @friederikeq.bsky.social 🎓 @franziskapradel.bsky.social Led by the Chair of Digital Governance @tum.de + the Content Moderation Lab (a TUM & @ox.ac.uk collaboration)

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Contrary to Mark Zuckerberg’s claim that replacing fact-checkers with "community notes" will enhance free expression, this move does not seem intended to satisfy US users’ supposed craving for a return to Meta’s "free speech roots." The reality is far more nuanced.

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Social Science Research Council @ssrc.org · 07/01/2025

In @apsrjournal.bsky.social, @franziskapradel.bsky.social , @janzilinsky.bsky.social, @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social and @yannistheocharis.bsky.social find that exposure to uncivil or intolerant posts did not lead to majority support for content moderation by platforms. cambridge.org/core/journal...

When is speech on social media toxic enough to warrant content moderation? Platforms impose limits on what can be posted online, but also rely on users’ reports of potentially harmful content. Yet we know little about what users consider inadmissible to public discourse and what measures they wish to see implemented. Building on past work, we conceptualize three variants of toxic speech: incivility, intolerance, and violent threats. We present results from two studies with pre-registered randomized experiments (Study 1, N=5,130; Study 2, N=3,734) to examine how these variants causally affect users’ content moderation preferences. We find that while both the severity of toxicity and the target of the attack matter, the demand for content moderation of toxic speech is limited. We discuss implications for the study of toxicity and content moderation as an emerging area of research in political science with critical implications for platforms, policymakers, and democracy more broadly.

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Soyeon Jin @soyeonjin3.bsky.social · 14/03/2024

📢 I am very excited that our new paper “Beliefs in Conspiracy Theories and Online News Consumption during the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic” is now published! 🎉👍 @yannistheocharis.bsky.social @janzilinsky.bsky.social @franziskapradel.bsky.social (thread 🧵)

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Ross Dahlke @rossdahlke.bsky.social · 25/01/2024

Desire for content removal of threats online depends on the target: targeting a billionaire, 21% want it removed, 36% for Christian, 58.2% for LGBTQ person, finds @franziskapradel.bsky.social @janzilinsky.bsky.social @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social @yannistheocharis.bsky.social doi.org/10.1017/S000...

Toxic Speech and Limited Demand for Content Moderation on Social Media
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 24 January 2024

Figure 2. Effects of Treatments on Support for Any Form of Content Moderation (Study I, Pooled Results and Estimates Broken Down by Target Group)

Note: The point estimates and the 95% confidence intervals represent average marginal effects calculated from a binary logit model. The dependent variable is set to 1 if the respondent selected any of “Permanently remove the post,” “Place a warning label on the post,” “Reduce how many people can see the post,” or “Suspend the person’s account” as their preferred action against the offending post. (pooled data). The logit results can be found in the SM and are presented in Table S9 in the SM.

Figure 3. Preferences for Content Moderation by Treatment and by Experiment in Study I

Note: The bars show support for each type of action for the pooled model (upper left), the LGBTQ study (upper right), the Christian study (bottom left), and the Billionaires study (bottom right). The actual percentages are reported in Tables S7 and S8 in the SM.

Figure 4. Heterogeneous Effects of Distinct Treatments on Support for Content Moderation

Note: Point estimates and the corresponding 95% confidence intervals of the top graph represent differences between Democrats and Republicans in the probability to demand content moderation by study and treatment. The bottom graph shows changes in the average probability for Democrats and Republicans when the treatments are compared to the anti-target control group. Results from the logit model can be found in the SM and are presented in Table S10 in the SM while predictions and contrasts are presented in Table S11 in the SM.

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 24/01/2024

[New Paper] with @franziskapradel.bsky.social, @janzilinsky.bsky.social & @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social now out in APSR! So happy with this piece which significantly reflects the trajectory of our research agenda at the Chair of Digital Governance! polisky Commsky www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

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Sebastian Sattler @sebastiansattler.bsky.social · 04/01/2024

New research by me and @franziskapradelbsky.social has been published in the Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy: "Health Consequences of a Death Threat: How Terrorist Attacks Impact Drinking". doi.org/10.1111/asap...

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Weizenbaum-Institut @weizenbauminstitut.bsky.social · 19/10/2023

❗Out now 🚀: Proceedings of the Weizenbaum Conference 2023 – #AI, #BigData, #SocialMedia, and People on the Move. Edited by B Berendt, M Krzywdzinski, E Kuznetsova | #openaccess More: t.ly/US7GP @hannahruschemeier.bsky.social @franziskapradel.bsky.social @denkwerkstatt.bsky.social @wzb.bsky.social

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Yannis Theocharis @yannistheocharis.bsky.social · 17/10/2023

Hugely excited about our workshop on Content Moderation & Free Speech on Social Media starting tomorrow at the TUM @spyroskosmidis.bsky.social and I cant wait to welcome an incredible lineup of researchers and people from the policy and tech arena for 2 days of intense discussions! polisky commsky

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