Thread by @kentbye

1/ @ebakerwhite's had 19 unanswered questions on @Meta's VR content moderation policies, so @BuzzFeedNews built a Horizon World containing content that got banned on FB & Instagram.
They reported it, but wasn't removed.
Then asked Comms & Meta removed it:
buzzfeednews.com/article/emilyb…

2/ Here's the 19 unanswered questions from @ebakerwhite about the VR content moderation policy in Horizon Worlds.
s3.documentcloud.org/documents/2120…

3/ I think some of Meta's existing content moderation issues will be replicated in VR, especially regarding Facebook Groups.
But I do think the network effects of going viral on 2D platforms are & will be different with immersive, 3D Horizon VR worlds

4/ Meta's stock answer to ethical questions is to cite their 4 Responsible Innovation principles.
But these principles are woefully inadequate as a robust ethical framework that @AnthroPunk & @CatherineFlick deconstruct & characterize as "ethics washing"

5/ Responsible Innovation principles are supposed to stop tech development if too many ethical issues arise via stage-gated innovation.
But Applin & Flick conclude Meta has a technocentric perspective with immutable launches regardless of ethical concerns:
sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

6/ Another part of Responsible Innovation practices is to engage with outside experts ranging the lowest of non-participation to tokenism to citizen powered.
Most of Meta's public engagement on XR ethics issues has fallen on the lower rungs of this ladder.

7/ Nearly everything Meta does with 3rd party experts is behind closed doors, & when they do have public events, then they don't allow them to be recorded.
My Twitter thread is the only documentation of this neuro-ethics conf co-sponsored by @RealityLabs:

8/ In my talk at AWE 2021, I gave an overview of various XR ethical approaches with some academic references for Responsible Innovation that goes beyond Meta's very narrow definition & implementation, which borders on ethics washing to deflect scrutiny.