X Looks to Improve Content Moderation After Issues with AI Images and Bot Farms

Content material moderation stays a significant problem on X, regardless of proprietor Elon Musk insisting that its crowd-sourced Neighborhood Notes are the important thing answer for combatting dangerous content material.

Final week, AI-generated photographs of singer Taylor Swift being sexually assaulted by NFL followers gained big traction on X, reaching over 27 million views, and 260,000 likes, earlier than the originating account was suspended.

Swift is now reportedly exploring authorized motion in opposition to X and the creator of the content material, whereas X, unable to cease the unfold of the photographs, regardless of that preliminary suspension, has now banned all searches for “Taylor Swift” within the app in response.

Which isn’t precisely an incredible endorsement of the effectiveness of its Neighborhood Notes strategy. And whereas this content material is in violation of X’s Sensitive Media policy, and would due to this fact be eliminated no matter Neighborhood Notes being issued, the truth that X hasn’t been in a position to cease the pictures being unfold means that the platform could possibly be leaning an excessive amount of into its crowd-sourced moderation strategy, versus hiring its personal content material moderators.

Which X is seeking to deal with. Immediately, X introduced that it’s constructing a brand new, 100-person content material moderation middle in Texas, which can deal with baby sexual abuse content material, however will even be tasked with managing different components as effectively.

That’s seemingly an admission that Neighborhood Notes can’t be relied upon to do all of the heavy lifting on this respect. However on the similar time, X’s new “freedom of speech, not attain” strategy is centered round the truth that its person neighborhood must be who decides what’s acceptable and what’s not within the app, and that there shouldn’t be a central arbiter of moderation selections, as there had been on Twitter previously.

Neighborhood Notes, at the very least in concept, addresses this, however clearly, extra must be achieved to deal with the broader unfold of dangerous materials. Whereas that the identical time, X’s claims that it’s eradicating bots have additionally come beneath extra scrutiny.

As reported by The Guardian, the German Authorities has reportedly uncovered an unlimited community of Russian-originated bots within the app, which had been coordinating to seed anti-Ukraine sentiment amongst German customers.

As per The Guardian:

“Utilizing specialised monitoring software program, the specialists uncovered an enormous path of posts over a one-month interval from 10 December, which amounted to a classy and concerted onslaught on Berlin’s help for Ukraine. Greater than 1m German-language posts had been despatched from an estimated 50,000 faux accounts, amounting to a price of two each second. The overwhelming tone of the messages was the suggestion that the federal government of Olaf Scholz was neglecting the wants of Germans on account of its help for Ukraine, each by way of weapons and help, in addition to by taking in additional than 1,000,000 refugees.”

X has been working to eradicate bot farms of this sort by utilizing “fee verification” as a way to make sure that actual persons are behind each profile within the app, each by pushing customers in the direction of its X Premium verification program, and thru a brand new take a look at of a $1 charge to have interaction within the app.

In concept, that ought to make bot packages like this more and more cost-prohibitive, thereby limiting their use. If the $1 charge had been in place in Germany, for instance (it’s at the moment being examined in New Zealand and the Philippines), it might have value this operation $50k simply to start.

Although, evidently, that additionally hasn’t been the obstacle that X had hoped, with numerous verified bot profiles nonetheless posting automated messages within the app.

Primarily, X’s options to deal with content material moderation and bots, the 2 key problems with focus repeatedly said by Elon as his foremost drivers in evolving the app, have to date not labored out as deliberate. Which has led to mistrust amongst advert companions and regulators, and broader considerations in regards to the platform’s shift away from human moderation.

X clearly wants to enhance on each fronts, and as famous, it has seemingly acknowledged this by asserting plans for extra human moderators. However that additionally comes with elevated prices, and with X’s margins already being crushed as a consequence of key advert companions pausing their campaigns, it has some work forward of it to get its methods heading in the right direction.

Content material moderation is a significant problem for each platform, and it all the time appeared unlikely that X would be capable of cull 80% of its crew and nonetheless preserve the operational capability to police these components.

Possibly, by improved machine studying, it may well nonetheless preserve prices down and improve its monitoring methods. However it’s one other problem for the Musk-owned app, which might see extra customers and types trying elsewhere.